Just last week, Italian cinema earned two awards in two major International film festivals. Birdwatchersby Marco Bechis, earned the Amnesty International Human Rights Award at the Croatian Festival in Motovun who released the following statement : "In the opinion of this year's Amnesty International Croatia jury, the film that best promotes human rights was Italian-Brazilian film Birdwatchers. This work of Italian director Marco Bechis strongly addresses the century-old eradication of the Indios, the legitimate inhabitants of Brazilian wilderness who are forced out from their land by white colonizers and isolated in reserves. Besides sending a direct message on the importance of human rights, the film has also reached a high artistic level." The second award went to Uberto Pasolini’s fortunate co-production, Machan, which received the prize for Best Screenplay at the Durban International Film Festival which ended August 2nd, 2009: “for capturing the true essence of family, love, desperation and the longing for a better life. The story is humorous leaving the viewer feeling happy and positive, and the relationships portrayed were real and touching.”