2026 Editorial
Laura Longobardi, Laila Alonso Huarte, and Guillaume Noyé
Editorial co-directors and Operational and administrative director
In the face of authoritarian abuses, resistance is getting organized
This 24th edition of the FIFDH is taking place in a context marked by rising authoritarianism, the weakening of international law and increasingly harsh repression, with civilians, and particularly minority groups, bearing the brunt of the impact.
On both sides of the Atlantic, in the United States and Europe, we are witnessing the normalisation of neofascist logic and discourse that had long been kept at bay. On a global scale, from Iran to China, through other theatres of war and exploitation, in the DRC and Sudan, the same dynamic is at work: militarisation, predatory imperialism, repression and restriction of freedoms. The international order based on law, equality of peoples and their right to self-determination is crumbling, undermined by the ambitions of governments that circumvent or disregard common rules.
In the face of this organised chaos, paralysis is not an option. As authoritarian regimes advance, resistance movements are multiplying, reinventing themselves and consolidating. In a context of war and global democratic decline, the FIFDH affirms a clear line: citizen organisation, collective mobilisation and solidarity are essential axes of resistance. Getting involved, taking a stand, mobilising: this is the line taken, with courage and creativity, by the guests of this 24th edition.
Official Messages
Tim Enderlin
Ambassador, Head of the Peace and Human Rights Division, FDFA
The year 2026 opens against a backdrop of profound global upheaval. Geopolitical balances are being reshaped, conflicts are multiplying or becoming entrenched, and security has emerged as a central priority on political agendas. Human rights therefore remain more than ever an indispensable compass. They are neither a luxury in times of crisis nor an obstacle to security. Respect for human rights helps prevent conflict, strengthen trust between societies and build lasting peace. In the face of polarisation, disinformation and the erosion of multilateralism, it is crucial to reaffirm their universal nature.
As a unique diplomatic crossroads, International Geneva embodies the conviction that dialogue remains possible. It continues to be a place where global tensions can be named, debated and, at times, overcome. The International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights (FIFDH) fully aligns with this mission. Through cinema, debates and encounters, it fosters a nuanced understanding of contemporary challenges and helps to keep open spaces for dialogue – spaces that are essential in a rapidly changing international environment.
This ability to demystify, to listen and to connect is particularly valuable for Switzerland. True to its human rights diplomacy, Switzerland is indeed convinced that culture, debate and encounter – as embodied by the FIFDH – are powerful levers for transformation.
Thierry Apothéloz
President of the State Council
This 24th edition of the FIFDH highlights the major challenges of our time: authoritarian drifts threatening democracies, forgotten conflicts that persist in indifference, systemic violence affecting the most vulnerable, and the climate crisis forcing millions of people into exile. In the face of these realities, the FIFDH refuses resignation. It gives a voice to witnesses, victims, activists, and creators who, across the world, keep alive the demand for justice and dignity.
This programme resonates with particular intensity in Geneva. At a time when multilateralism is undergoing a profound crisis and international institutions are seeing their resources and legitimacy challenged, the Festival reminds us why International Geneva remains indispensable. It also questions what it must become in order to continue upholding, with credibility and courage, the values upon which it was founded.
Cinema, through its ability to document, to move, and to mobilize, is an irreplaceable tool for social transformation. Thank you to the FIFDH for offering it, year after year, a platform worthy of the challenges of our time.
Alfonso Gomez
Mayor of the City of Geneva
On the occasion of the previous edition of the FIFDH, I shared in this very message my sense of dismay at an extremely worrying global context. Twelve months on, the situation has unfortunately shown little improvement: the erosion of democratic rights – particularly the rights of women and minorities – the rise of extremism, disinformation and climate scepticism form the unpalatable mix of this beginning of the year.
Faced with the worsening of ecological, social and political crises, the temptation to look the other way is strong. Yet it has never been more important to return to reality – to confront it, to imagine responses to the challenges before us and to define concrete courses of action. This is precisely what the FIFDH offers once again this year, through the sharp gaze of numerous filmmakers and the invaluable voices of activists. Far removed from the stream of sanitised, directed or manipulated images that flood our screens, audiovisual storytelling once again becomes a tool for awareness and collective action.
It is a great privilege for Geneva to be able to rely on such an essential event. Wishing everyone an excellent festival.
Joëlle Bertossa
Administrative Councillor for the City of Geneva
While a single film cannot, on its own, change the world, it has the power to make visible what is ignored or deliberately concealed; it can give a face, a voice and an emotion to realities too often reduced to abstraction. It can crack certainties, sow doubt where indifference once prevailed, and offer a shared language through which to debate, express outrage and take action.
At a time when democracies are faltering in many countries and the voice of peoples is being silenced by violent repression, it is more urgent than ever to develop forms of resistance and collective action.
In this context, Geneva stands out as an essential forum for debate, and the FIFDH offers a precious and welcoming space for the citizens of our city to question our vision of the world and to expand our fields of action.
By shining a light on existing initiatives that are useful and essential to social cohesion and to the building and strengthening of our democracies, the FIFDH reminds us of a fundamental requirement: the need to be beyond reproach, both in our political actions and in our individual decision-making.
Célia Héron
Deputy editor-in-chief, Le Temps
All the Courage in the World
The year 2026 is not yet three months old. And yet it already takes courage to face it head-on. Through the touchscreens on which our pupils never seem to tire of seeking dopamine, its kaleidoscope of violence holds our gaze – and at times our consciences – captive. A waltz of pixels sketches the abduction of one president by another, the methodical massacre of citizens marching on pavements turned blood red, unabashed masculinists, an orange, peroxide-tinted whirlwind.
What are we to make of it? “How can we turn rupture into connection, anger into action, and make refusal a starting point?” the FIFDH asks itself these days. Its selection raises as many questions as it offers answers, and lends wings to our timid hopes. From Tehran to Washington, from Kivu to Buenos Aires, via Gaza and Kyiv, collective actions remind us of the meaning of the words “human rights”. There is nothing abstract about them. Each destiny, each face brought into the light in darkened cinemas, bears witness to that. In every corner of the globe, resistance is taking shape – and it is by turning our gaze towards it that we may add our own voice. Perhaps courage, here, begins precisely there.
Susanne Wille et Pascal Crittin
SSR SRG Director General and RTS Director
Shedding Light on Reality, Engaging in Debate
From 6 to 15 March 2026, the FIFDH – of which SSR and RTS are proud partners – invites us to undertake an essential exploration: our relationship with reality. In a world where images flash past and narratives fragment, where challenges to the global order – environmental and technological alike – are shaking our certainties, how do we perceive truth? How do we distinguish the echo of reality from its distortions?
The public service we embody carries this mission at its very core: to shed light, to provide context, and to give space to all viewpoints, including those that are silenced. This vocation is all the more crucial today, at a time when its funding is itself the subject of debate. In this respect, the FIFDH stands as a beacon in this quest for meaning – an indispensable space where debates come alive, emotions are shared and perspectives are broadened.
This year will once again be an opportunity to present our co-productions that embody this commitment, including the preview screenings of The Beauty of the Donkey and Laundry, which will immerse us in intimate yet universal stories, as well as the Temps Présent documentary AI, My Deadly Confidant, a topic of striking relevance.
These films, encounters and exchanges are all windows opening onto the complexity of life – invitations not to look away, but to engage.
Wishing everyone an excellent Festival.
Martin Staub
President of the Association of Geneva Municipalities (ACG)
In certain regions of the world, fundamental freedoms are being stifled with relentless violence. Cut off from the ability to bear witness to the repression and massacres they endure, some populations nonetheless strive to make their voices heard through private satellite networks. It is deeply troubling to observe that truth has come to depend on a monopolistic commercial service. Elsewhere, authoritarian ambitions are undermining democratic institutions, fuelling chaos and turning a country into a dystopia in which living, trading or simply existing ultimately comes at the price of a tax. One conclusion is unavoidable: when freedoms become conditional or commodified, they cease to be rights.
Human rights are neither a product nor a bargaining chip. They are not negotiable. They form the indispensable foundation of any society that aspires to dignity, justice and peace. In this spirit, the FIFDH brings us together around stories that shed light. It invites us to reflect, to engage in dialogue, and to open our hearts in order to better understand those who resist. Supporting the FIFDH means refusing indifference and affirming that human solidarity remains stronger than fear and censorship. The municipalities of Geneva uphold this conviction. As the first political level of social cohesion, they work every day to preserve a local public sphere in which tolerance, listening and trust remain very much alive.
This is why they strongly support the spirit of the Festival and the values it embodies.