HIGH NOTE CINEMA

High Note Global Prize in Cinema · The Hub · Stardust Lounge


Where film and human rights converge at global scale — a permanent platform recognizing filmmakers whose work advances human dignity through the power of storytelling.


In official alignment with United Nations Human Rights, High Note Human Rights Cinema brings together visionary directors, producers, artists, and institutions to elevate films that do more than entertain — works that challenge injustice, illuminate untold stories, and shape the cultural narrative around the most urgent human rights issues of our time.


Rather than compete with the global festival circuit, High Note Human Rights Cinema elevates it. Drawing from the High Note Global 100 — our curated body of the world’s 100 most influential film festivals — filmmakers whose work has been officially selected at any festival on the list are invited to submit for the High Note Global Prize in Cinema.

THE PRIZES

Each January, High Note Human Rights Cinema presents three Global Cinema Prizes, eight Jury Prizes for Cinema, and one Legacy Prize for Music. A single submission is considered across all thirteen Cinema recognitions.


3 High Note Global Prizes

Awarded for the highest distinction across all submissions:


  • High Note Global Prize for Best Feature Film — narrative or documentary, 60 minutes or longer
  • High Note Global Prize for Best Short Documentary — 40 minutes or shorter
  • High Note Global Prize for Best Short Narrative Film — 40 minutes or shorter


Together, these stand as the highest institutional honor in cinema for human rights storytelling.


8 High Note Jury Prizes

Drawn from the foundational pillars of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, these eight categories represent the most enduring and urgent human rights stories of our time. Each year, the Jury Prizes are awarded to the films that most powerfully illuminate them:


  • High Note Jury Prize for AI & Digital Rights
  • High Note Jury Prize for Climate Justice
  • High Note Jury Prize for Racial Justice
  • High Note Jury Prize for Gender Equality
  • High Note Jury Prize for LGBTQ+ Rights
  • High Note Jury Prize for Indigenous Rights
  • High Note Jury Prize for Migration & Displacement
  • High Note Jury Prize for Human Dignity


For a detailed description of these categories visit Submissions.


1 High Note Global Legacy Prize for Music

A posthumous honor presented during High Note Human Rights Cinema at the Hub each January, recognizing a music icon whose contributions to human dignity continue to shape culture long after the music was made. Awarded by United Nations Human Rights at an intimate tribute concert in the Stardust Lounge, the Legacy Prize elevates a single voice each year — a voice whose courage and artistry elevated the human condition.


The 2027 inaugural recipient will be revealed on July 12, 2026 — UN International Day of Hope.


THE HUB

January 21–30, 2027 · Bohemian Biergarten · Downtown Boulder, Colorado


The High Note Human Rights Hub is the physical stage for High Note Human Rights Cinema — a ten-day programmed environment where filmmakers, diplomats, press, and policy leaders converge around the year’s most consequential stories.


During High Note Human Rights Cinema, distinct social issues — each recognized through a dedicated High Note Jury Prize — will be brought into focus.



  • Mornings begin with UN-led conversations that translate storytelling into dialogue, policy, and action.
  • Afternoons feature filmmaker discussions, curated screenings, and press engagements that deepen the conversation behind the work.
  • Evenings culminate with invitation-only receptions and salon gatherings that bring together filmmakers, artists, advocates, and the global film community under one roof.
  • Late nights continue inside the Stardust Lounge — the Hub’s invitation-only after-hours sanctuary for connection, conversation, and cultural exchange.


The Hub concludes on its final day with the presentation of the High Note Global Cinema Prizes.


This is not a festival. It is the global UN stage where film meets policy, culture meets consequence, and storytelling is placed at the center of the human rights agenda.


VENUE

The Hub is hosted at the Bohemian Biergarten — a 5,000-square-foot iconic venue adjacent to the Boulder Theater, in the heart of downtown Boulder.


Under the stewardship of owners Zdenek Srom and Angelie Timm, the Bohemian Biergarten was selected as the home of High Note Human Rights Cinema for its standing as one of Downtown Boulder’s vital cultural institutions — an environment where creativity and expression converge. For over a decade, Srom and Timm have shaped the venue into a gathering point for industry, artists, and culture.


STARDUST LOUNGE

Tucked at the back of the Bohemian Biergarten — with a private velvet-curtained entrance from inside the main restaurant, and a hidden VIP door opening onto a quiet side street — the Stardust Lounge opens into a space suspended in time. Prague at the turn of the twentieth century, rendered in chandelier light, dark wood, and an elegantly appointed bar.


At the back of the Lounge stands a stage built to tell the story of the unsung. Each year, honorees step onto it — from the world’s most celebrated artists to filmmakers being recognized at global scale for the first time.


At the heart of the ten days, the Stardust Lounge will host an intimate benefit concert — a global tribute to one of the most influential artists of our time, a voice whose courage gave hope to generations. Iconic voices will gather to perform the songs they love most. The evening closes as United Nations Human Rights posthumously presents the inaugural High Note Global Legacy Prize — the recipient first revealed on July 12, 2026, UN International Day of Hope.


Year after year, another voice will rise.