Sylvain Garel (born 1956) is a French

Green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 Nanometre, nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by ...

politician.

Early life

Garel was born in the

18th arrondissement The 18th arrondissement of Paris (''XVIIIe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 Arrondissements of Paris, arrondissements of Paris, the capital city of France. In spoken French, this arrondissement is referred to as ''dix-huitième''. The arrondis ...

of Paris. He has a master's degree in Contemporary History and specializes in Film History. He entered politics at age 17, in the Ecologist movement, after campaigning for

René Dumont René Dumont (March 13, 1904 – June 18, 2001) was a French engineer in agronomy, a sociologist, and an environmental politician. Biography Dumont was born in Cambrai, Nord, in the north of France. His father was a professor in agriculture ...

who was the first French ecologist to run for president. He joined the Green Party in 1989. He trained as a teacher and works as a historian and film critic.

Career

Garel founded a festival for

Cinema of Quebec The history of cinema in Quebec started on June 27, 1896 when the Frenchman Louis Minier inaugurated the first movie projection in North America in a Montreal theatre room. However, it would have to wait until the 1960s before a genuine Quebec ...

in France in 1991, over which he presided for six years. As a member of Critic's week, he attends the

Cannes Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

. He was the vice-president of the French Trade Union for Cinema Critics. An ardent anti-fascist, Garel in the early 1990s cofounded " Ras l'Front", a French network fighting racialism and

white supremacy White supremacy or white supremacism is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races and thus should dominate them. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White su ...

. Garel is a

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

city councillor. He ran for

Europe Écologie–The Greens Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

in 2001. He is a former president of the Greens group, who deployed a banner in support of Chinese and Tibetan political prisoners while the 2008

Olympic torch The Olympic flame is a symbol used in the Olympic movement. It is also a symbol of continuity between ancient and modern games. Several months before the Olympic Games, the Olympic flame is lit at Olympia, Greece. This ceremony starts the Olympic ...

was at the Eiffel Tower. On 29 January 2009, at a reception for the

Chinese New Year Chinese New Year is the festival that celebrates the beginning of a New Year, new year on the traditional lunisolar calendar, lunisolar and solar Chinese calendar. In Sinophone, Chinese and other East Asian cultures, the festival is commonly r ...

at the

Paris city hall Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

, he submitted a memorandum requesting the release of Chinese and Tibetan political prisoners. One of his political goals is to have the traditionalist Society of St. Pius X evicted from the

Saint-Nicolas-du-Chardonnet Saint-Nicolas du Chardonnet () is a Catholic church in the centre of Paris, France, in the 5th arrondissement. It was constructed between 1656 and 1763. The facade was designed in the classical style by Charles Le Brun. It contains many notable ...

church in Paris. In 2002, he led the Paris municipal council to pass a resolution against what he claims to be an illegal occupation,. On 8 December 2003, he supported 200 illegal migrants to occupy this church for several hours. They had to leave the building after the intervention of a parishioners. As President of the district council of

Montmartre Montmartre ( , ) is a large hill in Paris's northern 18th arrondissement. It is high and gives its name to the surrounding district, part of the Right Bank. The historic district established by the City of Paris in 1995 is bordered by Rue Ca ...

, he turned the spot into the first green district of the capital. In 2004, Garel opposed municipal subsidies for Jewish Loubavitch, claiming that they discriminate against non-Jewish children. In 2006, Garel opposed giving

John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

's name to a public place in front of the

Notre-Dame Cathedral Notre-Dame de Paris (; meaning "Our Lady of Paris"), referred to simply as Notre-Dame, is a medieval Catholic cathedral on the Île de la Cité (an island in the Seine River), in the 4th arrondissement of Paris. The cathedral, dedicated to the ...

in Paris. Garel quoted the late Pope's opposition to abortion as a reason for not honouring him, along with his opposition to safe sex practices and opposition to contraception. In 2010 he called for a National Day without a military parade. In September Garel opposed a settlement between the City of Paris and its former mayor

Jacques Chirac Jacques René Chirac (, , ; 29 November 193226 September 2019) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. Chirac was previously Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988, as well as Ma ...

in a corruption scandal. In October 2010, Garel promoted the opening of an experimental drug consumption room in Paris. In 2011, he protested against the erection of a marble

stele A stele ( ),Anglicized plural steles ( ); Greek plural stelai ( ), from Greek , ''stēlē''. The Greek plural is written , ''stēlai'', but this is only rarely encountered in English. or occasionally stela (plural ''stelas'' or ''stelæ''), whe ...

in the

church, in memory of those who suffered for their fidelity to

French Algeria French Algeria (french: Alger to 1839, then afterwards; unofficially , ar, الجزائر المستعمرة), also known as Colonial Algeria, was the period of French colonisation of Algeria. French rule in the region began in 1830 with the ...

. In June 2011, Garel appeared on the "shame list" of French politicians published by ''Europe-Israel'', a lobby fighting

antisemitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

bigotry Discrimination is the act of making unjustified distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong. People may be discriminated on the basis of race, gender, age, relig ...

and

anti-Zionism Anti-Zionism is opposition to Zionism. Although anti-Zionism is a heterogeneous phenomenon, all its proponents agree that the creation of the modern State of Israel, and the movement to create a sovereign Jewish state in the region of Palestin ...

. Garel was appointed in 2014 as a project manager for the International relationships of the City of Paris. In 2016 he joined the Association Internationale des Maires Francophones (AIMF) for promoting French-language cinema.

References

External links

Paris18.Paris-EELV.fr information
{{DEFAULTSORT:Garel, Sylvain Politicians from Paris Living people Europe Ecology – The Greens politicians 1956 births