FICTION AND HUMAN RIGHTS COMPETITION
Somali pirates, forced marriages in Yemen, the Indochina war, the rights of Aboriginal people, the baby formula scandal in Pakistan, the Iran protests, Haiti after the earthquake, child trafficking in India. These are the themes explored in the fiction films selected for the competition this year. Thanks to the great skill of their directors, which include Danis Tanović, Erick Zonka, and Raoul Peck, these dedicated, moving, powerful and personal films turn the art of cinema into a true platform for critical reflexion.
Jasmin Basic, Head of fiction programmation
Charlie’s Country, Rolf de Heer
Fishing Without Nets, Cutter Hodierne
I am Nojoom, Age 10 and Divorced, Khadija Al Salami
Meurtre à Pacot, Raoul Peck
Red Rose, Sepideh Farsi
Soldat blanc, Erick Zonca
Sunrise (Arunoday), Partho Sen-Gupta
Tigers, Danis Tanović
Fiction | Out of competition
Sabogal, Juan Lozano and Sergio Mejia
The President, Mohsen Makhmalbaf (Film de clôture)
Words With Gods, Guillermo Arriaga, Hector Babenco, Alex de la Iglesia, Bahman Ghobadi, Amos Gitai, Emir Kusturica, Mira Nair, Hideo Nakata, Warwick Thornton
JURY
| ARSINÉE KHANJIAN
President of the Jury,
she is a Canadian actress of Armenian origin. Also Atom Egoyan’s muse, she acts in the majority of the films he directs, including Exotica, the adaptation of Russell Banks’ masterpiece The Sweet Heareafter, and later Ararat, for which she wins the 2002 Genie Award for best actress. She has also collaborated with a number of prestigious directors such as Michael Haneke, Olivier Assayas and Catherine Breillat.
| JOËLLE BERTOSSA
is a Swiss producer. Working with Akka Films, she collaborated on the production of Raja Amari’s Les Secrets (Venice 2009), Raed Andoni’s Fix Me (Cannes 2010) and Nicolas Wadimoff’s Aisheen, Still Alive in Gaza (Berlin 2010). In 2012, she creates Close Up Films, an independent production company. Among others, she produced Michele Pennetta’s A Iucata (Pardino d’Oro at Locarno), Elena Hazanov’s Sam (Best film at New York Film Festival). She is currently co-producing Philippe Garrel’s L’Ombre des Femmes and Paule Muret’s This is my Body, starring Fanny Ardant.
| GERMINAL ROAUX
is a French-Swiss photographer, filmmaker and screenwriter, known for his exclusively black and white work. He starts his career as a photographer and reporter, and receives, in 2000, the Top Prize of the Media Suva Awards. In 2007, his short film Icebergs is critically acclaimed and a prize-winner at the Locarno Festival. His first feature Left Foot Right Foot wins, in 2014, the Swiss Cinema Award for Best Cinematography and a special mention of the Jury at the Palm Springs Festival.
| PHILIPPE COTTIER
is a Swiss lawyer. A member of the Board at the Hélène and Victor Barbour Foundation since 1995 and its Secretary since 2005, he represents the Foundation in the various cultural activities it organizes. He has always shown a particular interest in Cinema and his participation to the Barbour Award Jury for the 2015 edition of the FIFDH is a proof of his continued artistic engagement.