The International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights (FIFDH) is one of the most important international events dedicated to cinema and human rights, located in the heart of

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

, "international capital of human rights". The inspiration and impetus behind the International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights came from human rights defenders active in NGO's, filmmakers, media representatives and the University of Geneva. The FIFDH coincides with the UN Human Rights Council's main session. This simultaneous event makes the Festival a Free Platform for discussion and debates on a wide variety of topics concerning human rights. It was created by Léo Kaneman and co-founded by Yäel Reinharz Hazan, Pierre Hazan and Isabelle Gattiker in November 2002. Its first edition took place in March 2003.

Film festival

With its concept « A film, A subject, A debate », the FIFDH aims to underline human rights violations through films and debates, in the presence of filmmakers, human rights defenders, politicians and recognized specialists. Its programme is designed to increase public awareness and inspire people to reinforce their commitment to universal values. In 2014, more than 25’000 visitors attended the Festival's screenings and debates.

An international forum on human rights

As a genuine Forum on Human Rights, the Festival informs and firmly denounces violations of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights wherever they occur. In the heart of Geneva, the « human rights international capital », the FIFDH is a relay for human rights defenders active on the field. It offers debates as well as unscreened films and solidarity actions.

Personalities present at the festival

Present at the precedent editions were, among others :

Edward Snowden Edward Joseph Snowden (born June 21, 1983) is an American and naturalized Russian former computer intelligence consultant who leaked highly classified information from the National Security Agency (NSA) in 2013, when he was an employee and su ...

(via Skype) Anna Politkovskaïa,

Shirin Ebadi Shirin Ebadi ( fa, شيرين عبادى, Širin Ebādi; born 21 June 1947) is an Iranian political activist, lawyer, a former judge and human rights activist and founder of Defenders of Human Rights Center in Iran. On 10 October 2003, Ebadi was ...

Carla Del Ponte Carla Del Ponte (born February 9, 1947) is a former Chief Prosecutor of two United Nations international criminal law tribunals. A former Swiss attorney general, she was appointed prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former ...

Juliette Binoche Juliette Binoche (; born 9 March 1964) is a French actress and dancer. She has appeared in more than sixty feature films and has been the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Silver Bear, ...

,Abderrahmane Sissako plaide la cause du cinéma africain
''www.lecourrier.ch''

William Hurt William McChord Hurt (March 20, 1950 – March 13, 2022) was an American actor. Known for his performances on stage and screen, he received various awards including an Academy Award, BAFTA Award and Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor. ...

Viviane Reding Viviane Adélaïde Reding (born 27 April 1951) is a Luxembourgish politician and a former Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Luxembourg. She is a member of the Christian Social People's Party, part of the European People's Party. She p ...

Taslima Nasreen Taslima Nasrin (born 25 August 1962) is a Bangladeshi-Swedish writer, physician, feminist, secular humanist, and activist. She is known for her writing on women's oppression and criticism of religion. Some of her books are banned in Bangladesh ...

, Zainab Gashaeva,

Leila Shahid Leila Shahid (born in Beirut in 1949) is a Palestinian diplomat. She was the first woman ambassador of Palestine, serving the PLO in Ireland in 1989, in The Netherlands in 1990, then serving the PA in France where she had taken office in Paris in ...

, Stéphane Hessel, Julian Assange (via Skype) and his lawyer Balthasar Garzón,

Joseph Stiglitz Joseph Eugene Stiglitz (; born February 9, 1943) is an American New Keynesian economist, a public policy analyst, and a full professor at Columbia University. He is a recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences (2001) and the Joh ...

Robert Badinter Robert Badinter (; born 30 March 1928) is a French lawyer, politician and author who enacted the abolition of the death penalty in France in 1981, while serving as Minister of Justice under François Mitterrand. He has also served in high-lev ...

, Général

Roméo Dallaire Roméo Antonius Dallaire (born June 25, 1946) is a Canadian humanitarian, author, retired senator and Canadian Forces lieutenant-general. Dallaire served as force commander of UNAMIR, the ill-fated United Nations peacekeeping force for Rwanda b ...

Miguel Angel Estrella --> Miguel is a given name and surname, the Portuguese and Spanish form of the Hebrew name Michael. It may refer to: Places * Pedro Miguel, a parish in the municipality of Horta and the island of Faial in the Azores Islands * São Miguel (disam ...

Antonio Tabucchi Antonio Tabucchi (; 24 September 1943 – 25 March 2012) was an Italian writer and academic who taught Portuguese language and literature at the University of Siena, Italy. Deeply in love with Portugal, he was an expert, critic and translator of ...

, Alice Nkom,

Luis Moreno-Ocampo Luis Moreno OcampoMoreno Ocampo's surnames are often hyphenated in English-language media to mark Moreno as a surname, not a given name. (born 4 June 1952) is an Argentine lawyer who served as the first Prosecutor of the International Criminal Co ...

Edgar Morin Edgar Morin (; ; born Edgar Nahoum; 8 July 1921) is a French philosopher and sociologist of the theory of information who has been recognized for his work on complexity and "complex thought" ( pensée complexe), and for his scholarly contributio ...

Rithy Panh Rithy Panh ( km, ប៉ាន់ រិទ្ធី; born April 18, 1964) is a Cambodian documentary film director and screenwriter. The French-schooled director's films focus on the aftermath of the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime in Cambod ...

and

Abderrahmane Sissako Abderrahmane Sissako (born 13 October 1961) is a Mauritanian-born Malian film director and producer. His film '' Waiting for Happiness'' (''Heremakono'') was screened at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival official selection under Un Certain Regard, wi ...

Awards and jury

The International Juries grant different Awards : the Grand Prix de Genève, the Prix de la Fondation Barbara Hendricks pour la Paix et la Réconciliation en l’honneur de Sergio Vieira de Mello, the Prix de l’Organisation Mondiale Contre la Torture (OMCT). the Prix Fiction et droits humains by the Barbour Foundation. The Eduki foundation and the PBI donate the Youth Awards

Awards 2021

* Grand Prize of Geneva: ''Shadow Game'' - Eefje Blankevoort, Els Van Driel (Netherlands) * Gilda Vieira de Mello Prize: ''Downstream to Kinshasa'' - Dieudo Hamadi (Democratic Republic of the Congo/France/Belgium) * Special Mention: ''Once Upon A Time In Venezuela'' - Anabel Rodríguez Ríos (Venezuela/UK/Brazil/Austria) * Youth Jury Prize: ''Shadow Game'' - Eefje Blankevoort, Els Van Driel Fiction Competition * Grand Prize Fiction and Human Rights: ''

Veins of the World ''Veins of the World'' (german: Die Adern der Welt) is a 2020 Mongolian drama thriller film written by Byambasuren Davaa with Jiska Rickels and directed by Byambasuren Davaa. It was selected as the Mongolian entry for the Best International Fea ...

'' - Byambasuren Davaa (Germany/Mongolia) * Special Mention: ''

Should the Wind Drop ''Should the Wind Drop'' (french: Si le vent tombe, hy, Երբ որ քամին հանդարտվի ''Yerb vor k’amin handartvi'', previously known as ''Should the Wind Fall'') is a 2020 Armenian-Belgian-French drama film directed by Nora Martir ...

'' - Nora Martirosyan (France/Armenia/Belgium) * Youth Jury Prize: ''

'' - Byambasuren Davaa Grand Reportage Competition * Prize of OMCT: ''

Coded Bias ''Coded Bias'' is an American documentary film directed by Shalini Kantayya that premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival. The film includes contributions from researchers Joy Buolamwini, Deborah Raji, Meredith Broussard, Cathy O’Neil, ...

'' -

Shalini Kantayya Shalini Kantayya is an American filmmaker and environmental activist based in Brooklyn, New York, whose films explore human rights at the intersection of water, food, and renewable energy. Kantayya is best known for her debut feature documentary, ...

(USA/UK/China) * Public Award: ''

Dear Future Children ''Dear Future Children'' is a documentary film directed by Franz Böhm about young activism worldwide. The German-British-Austrian co-production provides insights into the lives of three young activists from Hong Kong, Uganda and Chile and examin ...

'' -

Franz Böhm Franz Böhm (16 February 1895, Konstanz – 26 September 1977, Rockenberg) was a German politician, lawyer, and economist. Early life Franz Böhm was born on 16 February 1895 in Konstanz. He moved along with his family in 1898 to Karlsruhe ...

(Germany/UK) * HUG - Artopie Jury Prize: ''Little Girl'' -

Sébastien Lifshitz Sébastien Lifshitz (born 21 January 1968) is a French screenwriter and director. He teaches at La Fémis, a school that focuses on the subject of image and sound. He studied at the École du Louvre, and has a bachelor's degree from the Universit ...

(France/Denmark)

Awards 2016

* Creative documentaries competition GRAND PRIZE OF GENEVA: '' Among the believers'' by Hemal Trivedi et Mohammed Ali Naqvi PRIZE GILDA VIEIRA DE MELLO: ''Hooligan sparrow'' by Nanfu Wang SPECIAL JURY PRIZE, offered by the Barbara Hendricks Foundation for Peace and Reconciliation: ''A SYRIAN LOVE STORY'' by

Sean McAllister Sean Brian McAllister (born 15 August 1987) is an English former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Primarily as a central midfielder, he has good vision and passing ability. He began his professional career at Sheffield Wedne ...

YOUTH JURY AWARD: ''Hooligan sparrow'' by Nanfu Wang * Fiction and human rights competition GRAND PRIZE: “ ZVIZDAN” (The High Sun) by

Dalibor Matanić Dalibor Matanić (, born 21 January 1975) is a Croatian filmmaker. His most well-known film is the 2002 feature '' Fine Dead Girls'' which won the Special Jury Prize at the 2003 Sochi film festival. His 2015 film '' The High Sun'' was screened ...

SPECIAL MENTION: “ EXPERIMENTER” by

Michael Almereyda Michael Almereyda (born April 7, 1960) is an American film director, screenwriter, and film producer. Early work Almereyda studied art history at Harvard but dropped out after three years to pursue filmmaking. He acquired a Hollywood agent on ...

YOUTH JURY AWARD: “

3000 NIGHTS ''3000 Nights'' is a 2015 internationally co-produced drama film directed by Mai Masri. It was screened in the Contemporary World Cinema section of the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival. The film focuses on a Palestinian woman, who whils ...

” by

Mai Masri Mai Masri ( ar, مي المصري; born April 2, 1959) is a Palestinian filmmaker, director and producer. Her films are primarily documentaries which focus on the real life struggles of the women and children living in the occupied Palestinian te ...

* OMCT competition GRAND PRIZE of the World Organization Against Torture (OMCT): “VOYAGE EN BARBARIE” by Delphine Deloget & Cécile Allegra JURY PRIZE OF THE CENTRE DE DÉTENTION DE LA CLAIRIÈRE: “SPARTIATES” by Nicolas Wadimoff.

Awards 2015

* Creative documentaries competition GRAND PRIZE OF GENEVA: ''On the bride's side'' (''Io sto con la sposa'') by Antonio Augugliara,

Gabriele del Grande Gabriele del Grande (* 1982 in Lucca) is an Italian journalist, blogger, writer and human rights activist. In Europe, he is one of the leading human rights defenders in the area of illegal immigrants to Italy and to Europe. On April 10, 2017, he ...

and Khales Saliman Al Nassiry PRIZE GILDA VIEIRA DE MELLO: ''Spartacus et Cassandra'' by Ioanis Nuguet, Special mention to

The Wanted 18 ''The Wanted 18'' is a 2014 Palestinian-Canadian animated documentary about the efforts of Palestinians in Beit Sahour to start a small local dairy industry during the First Intifada, hiding a herd of 18 dairy cows from Israeli security forces wh ...

by Amer Shomali and Paul Cowan YOUTH JURY AWARD: ''Something better to come by''

Hanna Polak Hanna Polak (born 1967) is a Polish director, cinematographer and producer. For her short documentary film, '' The Children of Leningradsky'', about a community of homeless children living in the Leningradsky railway station in Moscow, she was n ...

* Fiction and human rights competition GRAND PRIZE & YOUTH JURY AWARD: Charlie's Country by Rolf de Heer * OMCT competition GRAND PRIZE of the World Organization Against Torture (OMCT): ''Chechenya, a war without trace'' by Manon Loizeau.

Awards 2014

* Creative documentaries competition GRAND PRIZE OF GENEVA: Return to Homs by

Talal Derki Talal Derki (Arabic language, Arabic: طلال ديركي ''Ṭālāl Dīrkī'') is a Syrian Kurdish director, producer and screenwriter. Born in Damascus and of Kurdish descent, Derki studied film directing in Athens at , graduation in 2003. He wo ...

Special mention: Sound of Torture by Keren Shayo PRIZE GILDA VIEIRA DE MELLO: Art War by Marco Wilms YOUTH JURY AWARD: ''7 Days in Kigali'' by Mehdi Ba and Jeremy Frey * Fiction and human rights competition GRAND PRIZE:

A Stranger ''A Stranger'' ( hr, Obrana i zaštita; ) is a 2013 Croatian drama film directed by Bobo Jelčić. Cast * Bogdan Diklić — Slavko * Nada Đurevska — Milena * Ivana Roščić — Zehra * Rakan Rushaidat — Krešo * Vinko Kraljević — Mil ...

by Croatian director Bobo Jelcic YOUTH JURY AWARD: The Selfish Giant by

Clio Barnard Clio Barnard (1 January 1965) is a British director of documentary and feature films. She won widespread critical acclaim and multiple awards for her debut, '' The Arbor'', an experimental documentary about Bradford playwright Andrea Dunbar. ...

* OMCT competition GRAND PRIZE of the World Organization Against Torture (OMCT): ''Global Gay'', by

Frédéric Martel Frédéric Martel (born 28 October 1967) is a French writer, researcher and journalist. His most famous books are ''The Pink and the Black, Homosexuals in France since 1968'' (1996), ''Mainstream'' (2010) and ''In the Closet of the Vatican'' (20 ...

and Rémi Lainé

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official website of the International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights (FIFDH)
Human rights film festivals Film festivals in Switzerland Film festivals established in 2002 2002 establishments in Switzerland