Tuesday 9th December

09:30-11:00 @ Romerozaal 02.10 - Collegium Veteranorum, Sint-Michielsstraat 6, 3000 Leuven 

Dreams Longer Than the Night is a storytelling performance with true stories of inspiring women and peace education, one of them centered on the inspiring true story of Nobel Peace Prize winner Leymah Gbowee and her pivotal role in peace activism in Liberia. The performance highlights her journey of nonviolent resistance, social change, and the transformative power of collective action. This story offers a compelling example of courage, resilience, and restorative work on a national scale. Silvia Angel, storyteller and spoken word artist with a background in peace education and conflict transformation, will present this story in the form of a performance and facilitated dialogue session (90-min), inviting the audience to reflect on the lessons and insights from Gbowee’s remarkable journey.

Ticket information

• Event included in the Festival Pass (40-200 EUR). Pass holders may use the code received in the confirmation email to book a seat. 

• Individual tickets (26 EUR) can be reserved below. EFRJ members can log-in with their credentials to receive a 50% discount (13 EUR). 

• Seats are available on a first-come, first-served basis (up to 30 seats).

14:30-16:00 @ Romerozaal 02.10 - Collegium Veteranorum, Sint-Michielsstraat 6, 3000 Leuven 

This 90-min photography-based workshop is led by researcher Orika Komatsubara, archivist Yumi Kamuro, and activists Kaori Okuba and Hatsue Koizumi. Minamata in Japan is internationally known for the mercury contamination that began in the 1950s, a case still studied by officials and researchers from across the world. Yet the lessons drawn are often superficial, reduced to slogans like “let’s protect nature”. Using photographs (ranging from striking images of Minamata disease patients to intimate depictions of daily life and natural landscapes) the workshop opens space for dialogue on environmental harm, community history, and culture. Rooted in restorative justice principles, it seeks to move beyond conservation messages toward exploring how communities can prevent future environmental harm, while also developing trauma-informed practices relevant in international contexts.

Ticket information

• Event included in the Festival Pass (40-200 EUR). Pass holders may use the code received in the confirmation email to book a seat. 

• Individual tickets (26 EUR) can be reserved below. EFRJ members can log-in with their credentials to receive a 50% discount (13 EUR). 

• Seats are available on a first-come, first-served basis (up to 20 seats).

17:00-18:30 @ Aula 01.31 New Building of the Faculty of Law & Criminology - Tiensestraat 41

Marsyangdi Wile Ri’iba: May You Live as Long as the River (Nepal) and Aty Seikuinduwa: Judge Between Worlds (Colombia) are two short documentaries rethinking how we perceive and integrate more-than-human voices into legal and political decision-making. Through intimate storytelling and immersive cinematography, they explore the clash between Indigenous knowledge systems and dominant legal regimes that often fail to recognise the agency of invisible guardians of the land. The films offer a profound reflection on legal pluralism, spirituality, and resistance to extractivism. The roundtable discussion with Belkis Izquierdo Torres (Indigenous Judge, Special Jurisdiction for Peace, Colombia), Mamo Menjabin (Arhuaco Spiritual Leader, Colombia), and Lieselotte Viaene (RIVERS Project) will look at restorative justice practices with more-than-human actors in post-conflict societies. Members of the creative team will also be present: Mariona Guiu (Creative Lead, RIVERS Project), Manjit Lama (Indigenous Visual Storyteller and Cinematographer, Nepal), and Ransubba Gurung (Indigenous Co-producer and Research Assistant, Nepal).

Ticket information

• This side event is organised by the interdisciplinary team of the ERC RIVERS Project (2019–2026) which explores the complex relationships between humans, nature, and law. For more information, contact Lieselotte Viane (Executive Producer, Twin Documentaries & Principal Investigator).

• Individual tickets (free) can be reserved below.

20:30-21:30 @ STUK, Leuven

Brandon LaBelle is an artist, writer, and theorist whose work explores sound, voice, and listening as tools for reimagining public space and fostering dialogue. His performance turns inward, focusing on the body as an archive of trauma, conflict, and intergenerational memory. Developed through workshops on Authentic Movement with collaborating artists, it gives narrative to the “deep archive” within us, where voices of victim and offender, witness and oppressor, parent and child all resound. Through sound, movement, and storytelling, the performance explores what it means to carry, to hold, and to listen, suggesting that what we bear inside can guide us in facing the challenges of the external world. The performance is developed in collaboration with Oihana Altube, Raúl Marcos, María Escobar, Fátima Cué Pérez, Catalina Mahecha, and África Nieto, as part of the ERC project MUTE: Soundscapes of Trauma: Music, Sound, and the Ethics of Witnessing at the National Hellenic Research Foundation.

Ticket information

• Event included in the Festival Pass. Pass holders may use the code received in the confirmation email to book a seat. 

• Individual tickets (free) can be reserved below via the EFRJ website (especially for Festival Pass holders) or via STUK.

• Seats are available on a first-come, first-served basis (up to 30 seats).