During its closing ceremony, the 23rd edition of the International Film Festival and Forum on #Human Rights# (FIFDH) in Geneva celebrated 12 outstanding films that highlight human rights violations and social struggles across the globe. This year’s top honour, the FIFDH Geneva Grand Award, presented by the City and State of Geneva, was awarded to The Brink of Dreams by Nada Riyadh and Ayman El Amir. The documentary follows a group of young Egyptian women determined to carve out autonomy in a deeply patriarchal society.
Other major awards included the FIFDH Gilda Vieira de Mello Award, given to Khartoum, a film directed by five filmmakers—Anas Saeed, Rawia Alhag, Ibrahim Snoopy Ahmad, Timeea M. Ahmed, and Phil Cox—that sheds light on the resistance of Sudanese civil society amid an overlooked #conflict. The FIFDH Fiction Grand Award went to Santosh by Sandhya Suri, a gripping narrative about a woman navigating a police investigation that exposes the #caste system in India.
A new addition to this year’s festival, the Vision for Human Rights Award, was introduced in collaboration with key NGO partners. The inaugural recipient, There is Another Way by Stephen Apkon, documents the efforts of Combatants for Peace, a collective of Israelis and Palestinians advocating for non-violence as a path to lasting peace.
Award-Winning Films
- FIFDH Geneva Grand Award: The Brink of Dreams – Nada Riyadh, Ayman El Amir (Egypt)
- FIFDH Gilda Vieira de Mello Award: Khartoum – Anas Saeed, Rawia Alhag, Ibrahim Snoopy Ahmad, Timeea M. Ahmed, Phil Cox (Sudan, UK, France)
- FIFDH Fiction Grand Award: Santosh – Sandhya Suri (India, UK)
- Vision for Human Rights Award: There is Another Way – Stephen Apkon (Israel, Palestine, USA)
- Youth Jury Award – Documentary: Writing Hawa – Najiba Noori, Rasul Noori (Afghanistan)
- Youth Jury Award – Fiction: In the Land of Brothers – Alireza Ghasemi, Raha Amirfazli (Iran, Afghanistan)
- Fiction Special Mention: Cosmos – Germinal Roaux (Switzerland, Mexico)
