IBSA and the Film Festival Diritti Umani Lugano (Human Rights Film Festival Lugano): giving voice to resilient realities, together

Speaking about humanity and inalienable rights means challenging silence and standing up to indifference. At the Human Rights Film Festival Lugano (FFDUL, Film Festival Diritti Umani Lugano), films become open windows on the world – able shed light on unseen realities and bring distant experiences closer to everyone’s awareness.

Always attentive to supporting projects that foster discussion on social and inclusive themes, IBSA has once again renewed its support for the Festival as main partner. For the company, supporting this international event means contributing to a space where culture becomes a tool for dialogue, openness and shared responsibility.

The 12^th edition of the FFDUL, held from 12 to 19 October 2025 under the new co-direction of Antonio Prata and Margherita Cascio and chaired by Roberto Pomari, offered eight days of programming with over 25 films. The goal remains to highlight resilient realities – places and people who, every day, fight for human rights and against abuse of power.

The visual identity of this edition also reflected this mission: words that in recent times have been banned or sidelined were brought back to life by the festival, reclaiming their meaning through cinema, awareness, and collective debate.

There was no single guiding theme behind the film selection: the FFDUL’s “compass” is guided by current events and the filmmakers who portray them. With this spirit, the festival showcased works that tell stories of injustice, conflict, and migration – but also of hope and the possibility of change.

AN EVENT THAT GOES BEYOND CINEMA

The festival extends far beyond theatres and screenings. Once again this year, Lugano came alive with the OltreFestival (“Beyond the Festival”), the parallel programme that reaches beyond cinema to bring human rights themes into the city’s cultural and social spaces. Debates, concerts, and screenings offered opportunities to broaden the conversation and encourage participation, embedding the event even more deeply into the fabric of Ticino’s urban life.

As in previous years, the FFDUL devoted special attention to schools. Hundreds of students attended screenings and events, demonstrating curiosity and maturity in addressing even the most complex topics, when presented with the right language.

THE 2025 FESTIVAL AWARDS

The Premio Diritti Umani per l’Autore 2025 (“2025 Human Rights Author Award”) was bestowed to Indonesian director Garin Nugroho, recognised for his profound ability to portray the social, cultural, and political transformations of Southeast Asia – bringing to light stories often overlooked or marginalised. His cinema explores themes such as the tensions between tradition and modernity, the impact of collective trauma and political conflict, and the challenges of social justice, offering a vivid and uncompromising portrait of his country’s reality.

The festival also presented the following awards in the Concorso di Lungometraggi (“Feature Film Competition”), now in its 3^rd edition:

Premio della Giuria al Miglior Film (“Jury Award for Best Film”): Letters from Wolf Street by Arjun Talwar;

Premio ONG (“NGO Award”), awarded this year by Amnesty Switzerland: How to build a library by Maia Lekow and Christopher King;

Premio del Pubblico (“Audience Award”): Promis le ciel by Erige Sehiri;

Menzione Speciale della Giuria (“Special Mention of the Jury”): My dear Théo by Alisa Kovalenko.

The films in competition were: Broken voices by Ondřej Provazník, D is for Distance by Christopher Petit and Emma Matthews, How to build a library by Maia Lekow and Christopher King, Letters from Wolf Street by Arjun Talwar, My dear Théo by Alisa Kovalenko, Only on earth by Robin Petré, Promis le ciel by Erige Sehiri and Where we used to sleep by Matthäus Wörle.