Organisers of Impact Days, the professional programme of the Geneva-based International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights (FIFDH), announced October 13 the twelve projects selected for the event’s 9th edition, running March 7 to 9 2027. Over the coming months, teams will be coached online on all matters impact, before the projects’ presentation to international impact professionals and human rights organisations.
“The Impact Days team looks forward to working with the film teams, tutors and masterclass speakers to fine-tune campaign goals, strategies and potential partnerships,” writes the festival. Impact strategies and teasers will be posted in February 2027 once the teams have completed their Impact Lab training.
The selection committee consisted of Beatrice Leong (Malaysia), independent filmmaker and gender disability activist; Vivian Schröder (Germany), impact strategist and field builder; Prince Odera Onyore Nyambok II (Kenya), communications and outreach manager, DocA – Documentary Africa; Leonard Cortana (France/Guadeloupe), impact producer and partnership strategist.
FIFDH describes the 2027 selection. “From a network of Italian nuns combating human trafficking and sexual slavery, to Indian farmers preserving vital know-how against rising seas for the next generation; from a Colombian journalist denouncing judicial persecution, to a Nigerian intersex person battling everyday prejudice; from the exposing of creeping facial recognition technology across the globe, to the condemnation of stolen land in Chile – today lauded as a luxury private nature reserve; from a young influencer rejecting the traditional image of power in her run up to the European Parliament elections, to a Kurdish child rebuilding her childhood as a war amputee, and more, the 2027 selection goes around the world to report and impact upon urgent issues.”
Impact Days 2027 selection (click here for more details per project)
- #ClickRevolution by Anja Strelec (Croatia). Issue Areas: Economy and Politics, Women & Girl’s Rights, Youth. Region: Europe. Synopsis: When Nina, a young Croatian influencer, leads an independent Gen Z list into the 2024 European Parliament elections, she becomes the face of her generation. Converting likes into votes brings a new visibility – and unexpected consequences.
- Before the Feast by Rajani Mani (India). Issue Areas: Environment and Climate, Food Security. Region: Asia. Synopsis: In Kochi’s sea-facing salt marshes, aging farmer Vincent protects a rare salt-tolerant rice for the next generation, as rising seas threaten his seeds and legacy. His family is forced to weigh abandoning tradition against preserving knowledge vital for a warming world.
- Camels of the Sea by Vikram Singh (India). Issue Areas: Environment and Climate, Indigenous Rights, Poverty/Development. Region: Asia. Synopsis: Swimming camels, traveling caravans and nomadic customs collide with extractive capitalism in this portrait of a village on the frontlines of India’s often brutal march towards becoming an economic powerhouse.
- ExCoded by Javier Lovera (Canada). Issue Areas: Innovation and Technology, Civil Rights, Migration / Refugees. Region: Europe, North America. Synopsis: Amidst the steady creep of facial recognition technology into policing, immigration, and even schools, people harmed by AI—aka the “excoded”—are taking on a system that’s rapidly rewriting the rules of public life.
- Justice in the Land of Fog by Laura Dauden (Brazil). Issue Areas: Activism, Freedom and Democracy, Social Justice. Region: Latin America. Synopsis: In Colombia, a journalist investigating the judicial persecution of activists and a mother facing it firsthand cross paths, raising a question neither can answer alone: what happens to democracy when justice is turned against dissent?
- Sara by Harde Samir (Iraq). Issue Areas : Children’s Rights, Disability, Migration/ Refugees. Region: Middle East. Synopsis: After losing her right leg in a Turkish bombardment in northern Syria, a Kurdish girl living as a refugee in Iraq learns to walk again, expresses herself through art, and hopes for a safer future as her family seeks asylum in Europe.
- Sisters Act by Dea Gjinovci (Switzerland) and Antoine Goldet (France). Issue Areas: Migration / Refugees, Women & Girls’ Rights. Region: Europe, Africa. Synopsis: Sisters Act follows a group of fearless nuns who have formed an international network to combat sexual slavery and act as a counterweight to the extensive human trafficking networks that exploit women between Africa and Europe.
- Smoking Shores by David Roland Warwick (United Kingdom). Region: Europe. Synopsis: In the shadow of the UK’s largest steelworks, a close-knit surfing community offers an intimate perspective on working-class life, community resilience and the search for belonging in a changing world.
- Still Here by Linda Kallistová Jablonská (Czech Republic). Issue Areas: Civil Rights, Health, Youth. Region: Europe. Synopsis: The story of a family where love, humour, and a sense of belonging are the most precious values, helping the oncology and palliative care patient Zorka and her two daughters, Veronika and Bára, never give up.
- The Displaced by María José Calderón (Chile) and Samuel Pigott (United States). Issue Areas: Forced Displacement, Human Rights, Environment and Climate. Region: Latin America. Synopsis: A Chilean woman displaced by Pinochet at age four now fights to reclaim her land from the billionaire-owned “eco-reserve” built on it — and to force a state that erased her community’s history to finally remember.
- The Others by Ofelia de Pablo (Spain) and Javier Zurita (Spain). Issue Areas: Environment and Climate, Labour Rights, Migration/Refugees. Regions: Europe, Africa, Middle East. Synopsis: In Almería, the heart of Europe’s greenhouse, food is certified as organic and sustainable while the migrant workers who produce it remain invisible and exploited. How can food be sustainable if the people behind it live in such conditions?
- The Road to Bama by Kachi Benson (Nigeria). Issue Areas: Forced Displacement, LGBTQIA+, Women & Girl’s Rights. Region: Africa. The story of an intersex teenager in Northeast Nigeria who was kidnapped by Boko Haram, married to one of their commanders, and survived five years in captivity before being rescued – yet still found prejudice upon regaining their freedom.
