Statement by the High Commissioner to the Film Festival Geneva

27 February 2017

Excellencies, colleagues, friends,

Thank you for inviting me to this wonderful event. I've been looking forward to it. There is a particular power to cinema – a power to inform, of course; but also to inspire empathy and understanding, and from there, action. A powerful film transports us into other minds, other experiences, in other landscapes. It develops in us a sense of community and depth. And this work is quite simply invaluable to the advancement of universal human rights.

I’ve been thinking a great deal about the Holocaust in recent weeks – partly because, as you know, we recently commemorated the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the largest Nazi extermination camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau. And I’ve been reminded of a tremendously forceful film, Stanley Kramer’s Judgement at Nuremberg. It depicts the trial of four German judges who had sent many innocent people to their deaths, and other atrocities. These judges had obeyed the law -- but the Nazi laws were unjust, and what the film says is that they knew this to be so.

There is a great deal of argument about who is to be blamed: the Treaty of Versailles is invoked, and the so-called threat of Bolshevism, and even the German-Vatican Concordat. But some of you will remember the last scene, when one of the discredited judges, Ernst Janning – whom we know to be deeply troubled – tells Spencer Tracy, “Those people – those millions of people – I never knew it would come to that. You must believe it.”

Spencer Tracy replies, “It came to that the first time you sentenced a man to death you knew to be innocent.” And as we watch Ernst Janning’s eyes – actually he is played by Burt Lancaster – we see his inner world come crashing down as he realizes the truth, that even a single act of injustice can resonate across whole systems.

That is the power of film. To engage us in dilemmas, to provoke our thought, and to create ripples of compassion, of ideas, that are vast and deep.

I'd like to say a few words about that precious and vulnerable human right, the freedom of expression. It is the foundation of democracy, the driving force of inclusion and non-discrimination, the basis of accountability, the bedrock of virtually all other human rights. Because it is such a powerful and vital force, it comes under attack. Almost every week we hear of another assault, from bloggers who are targeted for violence by police, or lashed by judicial order, to the gunning down of journalists, as happened in Paris last month. I know you share my disgust and horror at these indecent attacks.

Freedom of expression, which is essentially the freedom to think, and to share those thoughts, is a rampart against tyranny, discrimination and repression of every kind.

These films, and the debates that take place within this Festival, make it impossible to ignore that simple fact. By giving voice to people who have endured war, violence, persecution, exile, exploitation and poverty, these stories sketch out the full individuality of people whohave rights that should be protected – just as we do – and tell us also that these are people who have much to offer the world.

No discussion of this Festival would be complete without a word about the courage of the filmmakers. They bring to the world their clear-eyed perspectives, deep emotion, and the determined spirit of resistance. I am humbled by the work they do to give human rights a vivid face and a voice that is strong and real. It involves hardship and danger, but the result is tremendously valuable to all of us. To the filmmakers who are present in the audience, please allow me to express my admiration.

Thank you.