The festival


The FIFDH is the leading international event dedicated to film and human rights. For the past 15 years, the festival has taken place in the heart of Geneva, the human rights capital, parallel to the main session of the UN Human Rights Council in March. 


A 10-day forum parallel to the 
UN Human Rights Council


Each evening, the FIFDH provides high-level debates in which human rights violations are denounced and debated robustly, wherever they occur, including those overlooked by the United Nations and not attract international attention. Diplomats, NGOs, victims, artists, philanthropists, activists, journalists, decision makers, and the general public are invited to debate their views in this unique setting. All the discussions are transmitted live online and have their own dedicated hashtags : you can submit questions and engage with the debate directly, wherever you are. 

Prominent personalities who have participated in these debates include : Nobel Prize laureates Shirin Ebadi and Joseph Stiglitz, High Commissioners Navi Pillay and Zeid Ra’ad al Hussein, whistleblowers Edward Snowden, Julian Assange and Jesselyn Radack, doctor Denis Mukwege, activists Pussy Riot and the Yes Men, artists JR and Ai Weiwei, lawyers Fatou Bensouda, Carla del Ponte and Baltasar Garzon, diplomats Leila Shahid and Samantha Power, journalist Anna Politkovskaïa, as well as leading human rights thinkers Edgar Morin and Stéphane Hessel.

An international film festival

We run two international competitions – fiction and documentary – offering a world class selection of films that challenge the ways in which we see the world, in the presence of filmmakers and artists turned protagonists. Two prestigious Juries award Le Grand Prix de Genève (10’000 €), Le Grand Prix Fiction (10’000 €) and the Prix Sergio Vieira de Mello (5000€). 

The FIFDH brings some of the biggest names in world cinema : Rithy Panh, Juliette Binoche, Joshua Oppenheimer, Joachim Lafosse, Amos Gitai, William Hurt, Abderrhamane Sissako, Nabil Ayouch, Gael Garcia Bernal, Reda Kateb, and Brillante Mendoza presented their films at the Festival.

Getting communities involved


The FIFDH is an unmissable event in Geneva, attracting 35’000 festivalgoers annually. Outside of the main debates at its centre, the Festival also offers screenings in community centres, sports associations, migrants’ shelters, hospitals and local prisons. Our international guests participate in these events.

School and student screenings


The FIFDH reaches out to young people: more than half of its audience is younger than 35! We offer an ambitious and exciting programme of films and debates for school students. The Festival also schedules special screenings for students of the University of Geneva, the Graduate Institute and film schools, complete with workshops and dedicated Masterclasses.

The FIFDH in the media


The Festival is covered extensively by international press. Our official partners are Euronews, TV5Monde, Le Huffington Post, France Culture, ARTE, le Temps and the Radio Télévision Suisse (RTS).
 

International partners

We are supported by Switzerland’s Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Culture, the City and Canton of Geneva, the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie and private institutions such as the OAK Foundation and the Ford Foundation. The festival 120 partners also include international NGOs (Amnesty International, OMCT, Human Rights Watch and MSF), the Swiss Cinémathèque and the University of Geneva.
The FIFDH is a founding member of the Human Rights Film Network, an active network of 60 festivals worldwide.
 

Patrons of the festival

Sergio Vieira de Mello, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights tragically killed in Baghdad, was the Festival’s first patron, alongside singer Barbara Hendricks, filmmaker Ken Loach, former Minister of Justice Robert Badinter, former President of Switzerland Ruth Dreifuss, actor William Hurt and Louise Arbour are the patrons.