FIFDH 2025

Produced by Esther van Messel of First Hand Films and fellow Swiss outfit Spirited Heroine, Kalari (90/52’) tells of the eponymous Indian martial art that is taking on greater significance for women within a society where gender-based violence is commonplace. “Kalari is a film about new heroines in a country where violence against women is both historically ingrained and a daily reality,” First Hand Films’ Daniel Schneider tells BDE.

Welcome to the very unusual rural retreat where queer youngsters can spend time attending workshops, having fun and addressing any anxieties they may feel about school, family or identity. “When I saw the field full of parents dropping off their kids, I immediately had to cry,” Dutch co-director van der Rhee describes his feelings when he first encountered the camp. “A field full of queer young people who are accepted by their parents - that affected me so super deeply.”

Core to the Geneva-based industry programme is the pitch of 12 international film projects developed during the Impact Lab training programme, and 4 further impact projects in Swiss Focus 2025. Designed for filmmakers, NGOs & international organisations, philanthropists, impact practitioners and distributors, and offering case studies, networking events and examples of best practices from around the world, FIFDH Impact Days will run 9-11 March 2025.

In Alisa Kovalenko’s new project, co-directed with fellow Ukrainian Marysia Nikitiuk, six women share their traumatic experience of sexual violence and torture during Russian aggression in Ukraine between 2014-23. “Showing these genocidal crimes of conflict-related sexual violence in Ukraine committed by Russian soldiers, and its systematic use as a weapon of war in brutal violation of international law, will be an effective reminder of a great danger to the civilised world,” says producer Natalia Libet.

Before doors closed on the 23rd edition of FIFDH, co-director Laura Longobardi reflected to BDE on how both the festival and Impact Days are changing the narrative in terms of doc and advocacy. “In a way we've been ‘teaching’ the NGOs through the seven years of Impact Days,” she tells BDE. “This is a film that you can use for your campaign. This is a film that you can use with your stakeholders. This is a film that you can bring to the political institutions to show what's really happening, and at the same [use] for a change of law, a change of structure.”

The 23rd edition of the Geneva International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights (FIFDH) has wrapped “with resounding success,” selling out the majority of its screenings and drawing more than 31,000 attendees. Twelve films were awarded at the end of the 10-day event during which numerous experts gathered “to dissect current affairs, move beyond shock, and celebrate collective action.”

“Does Europe have to get dirty before getting green?” That’s the key question asked in Scars Of Growth, the new feature doc from Linda Osusky and Monika Grassl. One of the subjects the film explores is the green mining of the raw material needed for new technologies. “Mentally, I think that it is an old generation that is guiding and directing the policies…we want to show that it is the wrong way. You cannot mine yourself out of the climate crisis…you cannot destroy nature to save nature,” says co-director Linda Osusky tells BDE.

The Geneva-based human rights festival unveiled this week the 12 projects selected from around the world for its Impact Lab 2025. Each project representative will receive expert training to craft an impact strategy ahead of presentation to dozens of NGOs, international organisations and philanthropists, both in Geneva and beyond. The next edition of FIFDH Impact Days runs March 9 to 12 2025.

In Colombia, a nation which suffers profound racial and socio-economic disparities, a Black woman (Francia Márquez) from a rural background challenges the status quo by launching a presidential campaign. “The impact campaign inspired by Igualada aims to create a paradigm shift, ensuring that many more 'igualadas' continue breaking barriers,” producer Juan Yepes tells Business Doc Europe.

In Front of Us paints a deeply moving portrait of two women’s fight for accountability in a conflict the world has chosen to ignore, revealing both the strength and limits of international law. That war is between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh region has been raging since 2020. “While the film highlights Armenian cases, its broader message is clear: Accountability for war crimes is a global imperative that transcends borders and politics,” Armenian producer Mariam Davtyan (Bars Media) tells BDE.