Play Suisse : (re)discover a selection of films from the FIFDH’s past editions since 2016

Sabine Gisiger, 2017

Bienvenue en Suisse

Andreas Glarner, the mayor of a wealthy Aargau community, wants to set an example and refuses to accept ten refugees into his village. But within the community, on the initiative of Johanna Gündel, a student and daughter of a local market gardener, resistance is forming against the mayor’s policy.

Nadia Fares, 2022

Big little women

Filmmaker Nadia Fares mischievously transforms her tribute to her much-loved Egyptian father into a chronicle of the status of women in Egypt and Switzerland. Her film explores the influence of patriarchal tradition between East and West.

Fulvio Bernasconi, 2018

Dick Marty – Un cri pour la justice

After the attacks of 11 September 2001, the US government concluded secret agreements with European governments to combat terrorism. A flagrant violation of international treaties, the rule of law and the laws of European countries. When the Washington Post revealed this secret pact in 2005, the Council of Europe asked Swiss parliamentarian Dick Marty to investigate.

Carmen Jaquier, 2022

Foudre

Summer 1900, in a valley in southern Switzerland. Elisabeth is seventeen and preparing to take her vows when the sudden death of her elder sister forces her to return to her family and the life of hard work she had left five years earlier to enter a convent.

Germinal Roaux, 2018

Fortuna

Fortuna, 14, a young Ethiopian teenager, who has had no news of her parents since arriving in Lampedusa, Italy, is being welcomed in Switzerland with other refugees in a hospice at an altitude of over 2,000 metres to spend the winter. A community of Catholic monks takes them in until their situation is regularised by the Swiss authorities. It is here that Fortuna meets Kabir, a 26-year-old African refugee, and falls head over heels in love with him. Their relationship develops behind closed doors until the day Kabir disappears.

Anne-Frédérique Widmann, 2018

Free men

Narrated by the charismatic voice of Kenneth Reams, this is a film about resilience. On death row for 25 years, Kenneth has pushed back the walls of his cell to become a painter, poet, founder of a non-profit organisation and organiser of arts events – all while fighting for justice. At 18, Kenneth was convicted of murder without firing a shot, making him the youngest inmate in Arkansas.

Raoul Peck, 2016

I am not your Negro

Based on the unfinished writings of James Baldwin, this visual essay explores the theme of racism through the stories of Medgar Evers, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr.

Prix Gilda Viera de Mello, en hommage à son fils Sergio Vieira de Mello, FIFDH 2017

Alain Ughetto, 2022

Interdit aux chiens et aux italiens

Luigi Ughetto and his brothers left behind their village of Ughettera, the land of the Ughetto family in their native Piedmont, to discover “La Merica”, that fabulous land where dollars grow on trees. Luigi’s destination for America is Provence. His story is that of hundreds of thousands of Italians who have left their homeland to settle in France, Switzerland, Belgium and elsewhere.

Juan José Lozano et Zoltán Horváth, 2022

Jungle rouge

In 2008, Raul Reyes, FARC’s second-in-command, was killed in a raid orchestrated by the CIA and the Colombian army. Ten years of emails written by the man responsible for negotiating the release of 100 hostages – including Ingrid Betancourt.

Nicolas Wadimoff, 2018

L’Apollon de Gaza

Soon, rumours spread about this treasure coveted by all. Both a film-investigation and a reflection on history, we discover the little-known reality of a territory scarred by wars and a merciless blockade, but where life persists, dignified and unsubdued.

Emanuele Gerosa, 2019

One more jump

Abdallah, leader and founder of the Gaza Parkour Team, travels to Italy to become a professional athlete, but the reality is harder than he imagined. Jehad, on the other hand, has stayed at home, training young people and looking after his ailing father, but continues to dream of leaving this conflict-ridden land.

Frédéric Choffat, 2022

Tout commence

Based on interviews with his two teenage children and activists, the director of this film weaves together an intimate reflection on Swiss youth caught between climate crisis and pandemic, but who continue to believe and commit despite everything. How can we still imagine a world that makes us dream?

Dodo Hunziker, 2022

Urban Genesis

Ethiopian farmers and a team of international architects are joining forces to tackle one of the greatest challenges of our time: the demographic explosion and largely uncontrolled urbanisation in Africa. Can a small sustainable town show the way out of the migration crisis?

Catalogue Impact Days 2021

Anna Thommen et Lorenz Nufer, 2019

Volunteer

Together, they take responsibility where no one else will. They dare to leave their comfort zone and stand up for people in need.