Vocal power: A poster of The Take, to be shown at the TRI Continental Festival at Nandan

Bridging boundaries, three continents come together every winter to share their concerns through cinema. For the second time, the TRI Continental Film Festival (3CFF) is bringing down its package of human rights films to the city.

The festival organised by the Delhi-based Breakthrough, a human rights organisation that uses media, education and popular culture to promote values of dignity, equality and justice, was initiated in Latin America in 2002. The festival travelled to South Africa in 2003 and then to India in 2004. Since then, the TRI Continental Film Festival has become an annual platform for narrative, documentary, feature and short-length films across continents. Last year, the first 3CFF in India travelled to Bangalore, Chandigarh, Delhi, Guwahati, Kanpur, Calcutta, Mumbai and Pune.

Starting February 3, the four-day Calcutta chapter is being hosted in collaboration with NGO Swayam and Cine Central. On offer is a bunch of documentary and feature films from Asia, Africa and America. Mrinal Sen will open the festival, which will come to the city after Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai. Shyamal Sen, chairperson, West Bengal Human Rights Commission, will also be present.

Sixteen documentaries have been selected in the competition section of the festival for the Jury Prize to be awarded by a panel of judges comprising Amar Kanwar, Arjun Chandramohan Bali, Ira Bhaskar, Rituparno Ghosh and Sohini Ghosh.

The non-competitive section features four films. Screenings will be followed by interactive sessions with the film-makers. The films will be screened at Nandan II between February 3 and 5 and Nandan III on February 6.

The Take, by Avi Lewis, is a Canadian film on the economic collapse in Argentina 2001 with a group of unemployed auto-parts workers reclaiming their work and dignity. Filmed in Bolivia, India and the US, Thirst by US directors Deborah Kaufman and Alan Snitow explores whether water has been turned into a commodity in the global market. It won awards at the Columbus International Film Festival in Ohio and Earth Vision Film Festival in California.

The package also contains The Concrete Revolution from China and the UK, Sancharram from India, Rebel Music Americas from Canada and Homecoming from South Africa. Sisters in Law, from the UK, has been selected for Cannes this year.