FIFDH 26

Ana Castañosa Bielsa talks to Business Doc Europe on the eve of Impact Days 2026, which again seeks to channel the power of documentary film as a tool for concrete social and policy change. Yes, impact remains a “niche” sector within the film industry, she points out, but Impact Days’ effectiveness in underlining its importance is undeniable. “Cinema can be political,” Castañosa Bielsa reminds BDE of the context within which she and her colleagues are operating.

From 6 to 15 March 2026, the International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights (FIFDH, Geneva) returns “at a time of accelerating authoritarianism, weakening international law and growing repression. Civilians, and especially marginalised groups, are bearing the brunt of these shifts. FIFDH responds by highlighting resistance, solidarity and collective action,” the festival writes.

The 24th FIFDH attracted more than 32,000 festivalgoers who not only watched 50+ films (incl 35 docs) but attended discussions featuring more than 200 guests from the worlds of art, science, politics and activism. Thirteen films received awards at the prize ceremony, held on March 14. “These films shed light on realities too often overlooked, and open up powerful new perspectives. We are proud to celebrate works that inspire courage and give voice to those too often unheard,” said Laila Alonso Huarte and Laura Longobardi, Editorial Co-Directors, FIFDH. All doc winners, plus further Longobardi comment.

Renowned Palestinian filmmaker Rashid Masharawi, born and raised in Gaza’s Al-Shati refugee camp, explored two vital aspects of film and filmmaking in Gaza during his Impact Days keynote on March 9. He articulated the urgent need to bring the works of Palestinian filmmakers to international audiences. At the same time, films from around the world must be delivered to children in Gaza, who have grown up surrounded by blockade, loss, and repeated wars, to offer moments of escape, imagination, and emotional relief.

In 2026, the Geneva-based human rights festival presents 35 documentaries, nine fiction films and twelve short films competing in the various competitions, and/or accompanying the 21 Forums and three Impact Spotlights. The competing films will be reviewed by international and youth juries, who will reveal the Award winners during the Closing Ceremony. The upcoming edition of FIFDH runs 6 to 15 March.

Weaving together animation, observational cinema, and participatory filmmaking, Tetiana Khodakivska’s new feature doc, The Blue Sweater with a Yellow Hole, is a coming-of-age documentary that questions the impact of indoctrination and propaganda on children in the modern world. The subject of the film is three Ukrainian children who both process and draw memories from their six months in a Russian ‘re-education’ camp. Producer Elena Saulich talks to Business Doc Europe.

Estonian filmmaker Maris Salumets presented her investigative documentary War on Women during this year's CPH:DOX Rough Cut presentation, held on 16 March. Salumets offered industry professionals an early look at a project that seeks to map the global networks driving anti-gender politics across Europe. “This is a film about my own journey investigating the anti-gender movement in Europe and its close ties to US and Russian money and influence,” she told the Copenhagen audience.

In Rachel Lauren Mueller’s new feature doc, when a pagan white supremacist group arrives in a Minnesotan farming town, it sparks an intense struggle over who has the right to belong, offering a disturbing warning about the normalization of extremism. “Our aim with our film’s impact campaign is to repair the ruptures of communal polarization through the simple practice of bringing divided communities together to watch a film and share their perspectives,” producer Ariel Tilson tells Business Doc Europe.

French producer Tanguy Babin of PaladiOra Films outlines to Business Doc Europe the qualities of Hnin Thet Hmu Khin and Olivier Petrie’s story of Hnin’s secret return to Myanmar from Thailand (after having played a significant role in the 2021 anti-junta protests) where she encounters a new generation who are looking to rebuild the country without taking up arms. “The film aims to move beyond a strictly geopolitical reading of the conflict, and instead reveal human stories that are intimate and universal,” Babin underlines.

Running March 8 to 10, the Geneva-based industry programme will present a packed schedule of keynotes, screenings, case studies and analyses of best practices from around the world. Core to proceedings is the pitch of 12 international film projects developed during the Impact Lab training programme, and a 4 further impact projects in Swiss Focus. The event offers filmmakers the opportunity to connect with impact producers, philanthropists and key human rights organisations based in Geneva and beyond.