Stress? Isabelle Gattiker doesn't seem to know! With just a few weeks to go before the launch of the 16th International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights (FIFDH), the bubbly director is not letting the excitement overwhelm her. At least on the surface. At the Café du Grütli, she's at home, being approached at every table; she takes her time, greets and exchanges a few words with everyone. That's how Isabelle Gattiker is, in the moment and without artifice.
A perfectionist, she steers her ship with meticulous attention to detail. Since she took over the reins of the FIFDH from Léo Kaneman, founder and Honorary President, attendance figures at the event have risen steadily. How has this festival become emblematic of the Geneva of Human Rights?
"The FIFDH owes its success first and foremost to Léo, who imagined this bridge between all the Geneva's - the humanitarian, the diplomatic, the financial, the cultural and the civil society," explains the woman who was already behind the scenes at the very first edition of the festival in 2002. As coordinator at the time, I still remember the emotion generated by this new adventure, sponsored by the late Sergio Vieira De Mello, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, and singer Barbara Hendricks.
16 years of introspection into the planet's ills
Over the past 16 years, this internationally renowned annual festival has continued to expand its offerings and concepts. Today, it has become a not-to-be-missed event, and now extends to the Greater Geneva area and beyond. "It was important to go out and meet the public, not to freeze the event in one place," continues the FIFDH's young conductor. "This year, we'll have several highlights, including a debate on impunity in Mexico and a reading of the book Dear Ijeawele. A manifesto for feminist education by Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, in 15 languages."
Although she has taken over the organization and production, the director has not changed the philosophy of the FIFDH. Our priority is to highlight the realities and the colossal work carried out in Geneva by associations and in the field," she explains, trying to make her point clearer while gazing at the images in her bright, luminous opal eyes. No two editions are alike, but year after year, the emotions, encounters and emergence of new energies crystallize the soul of this festival and carry it forward."
As always, the FIFDH will be held in conjunction with the most important session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva. More than fifteen debates, organized after the screenings, will bring together players from the associative and humanitarian world, alongside prestigious guests. In 2018, the FIFDH will continue to expand, with more than 45 films, some of international renown, to be screened at various sites throughout the region and as far afield as Neuchâtel and Bienne.
Even the festival's closing ceremony will feature the exceptional presence of Chinese dissident artist Al Weiwei. "He will be speaking alongside Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
Switzerland and the FIFDH shine around the world
Another new feature, also initiated by the young director and her team, is a "tour" of the FIFDH to the four corners of the world to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Launched in December, the operation kicked off in Islamabad and will run in 40 countries until December," explains Isabelle Gattiker. The concept was presented to the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (DFAE) and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, who immediately endorsed the idea of collaborating with Swiss embassies abroad," she adds. Each embassy will organize a human rights event and a film screening. It's quite a challenge, given that several countries that have been singled out as poor performers will be hosting these human rights debates. Each evening will take place in the presence of a FIFDH member, and the FIFDH director has made the trip to Pakistan and is preparing for a year of travel.
In an increasingly gloomy world, Isabelle Gattiker wants to believe in every drop of water poured by every action of collective awareness. For her two children, Ulysse, 7, and Adam, 5. When I was little, I dreamed of being a journalist so I could travel, write and denounce," recalls the young mother. I never accepted fatality! I remain convinced that everyone can take action and make the world a better place in their own way.
A nomadic childhood driven by curiosity and openness to others
The daughter of a diplomat, Isabelle Gattiker probably owes her universality to her nomadic childhood. "I lived in several countries, including Colombia, at the height of the civil war. I was between eleven and fifteen. It's an age that leaves its mark. From her international years, she also retains a sociable temperament and a keen curiosity.
Born in 1978 in Berne, the adopted Genevan settled at the end of the lake at the age of 18, to complete her studies in literature and contemporary history. I've never really left," she says, "I love this city and its multi-cultural character.
General coordinator of the first years of the FIFDH, Isabelle Gattiker then set off to meet other masters. She worked for several years with French-Israeli filmmaker Amos Gitaï, before moving into film production with a major Geneva-based company. In 2013, she was appointed deputy director of the FIFDH, which she took over in 2014. With a magnificent team and over 200 volunteers every year," she explains. Strong, spontaneous emotions, shared with several tens of thousands of people at each edition." A graduate in cultural event management from IESA in Paris, Isabelle Gattiker has also taught at the Ecole cantonale d'art de Lausanne (ECAL) and the Haute école d'art et de design de Genève (HEAD).
International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights (FIFDH) 2018. From March 9 to 18 in Geneva. www.fifdh.org/site/fr/accueil
IN DECAL...
1) The book on the bedside table?
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion.
2) The ideal vacation?
Anywhere, as long as I'm with my partner and our children.
3) The annoying little habit?
I remember all the numbers and dates, which has the knack of exhausting those around me.
4) Favorite recipe?
The only thing I know how to cook: Engadine walnut cake, in homage to my maternal family.
5) Your childhood heroine?
One of the girls from the Club des cinq!
6) A symbolic tune?
Lucio Dalla's "Se io fossi un angelo" was sung to me by my dad, a song of love and resistance.
7) The first punishment?
Too talkative in class, I always found myself at the front, next to the most boring students!
8) Fundamental quality?
Curiosity.
9) The first reading?
All Roald Dahl, obsessively!
10) A dream?
More justice, more joy, more so many things