Theme 2019
The autumn reunion of the defenders of human rights, the promoters of reflection, the amateurs of subversion, the brewers of diversity, and the inventors of the possible, the Festival of Freedoms offers a multitude of documentaries, of debates, of spectacles, of exhibitions, and of concerts. All forms of expression engaged with the now, willing to be critical, inspired by the promotion of a more just world but also presented in a convivial and festive atmosphere that is the hallmark of the festival.
On the international, social, militant, media or intellectual scene, it emerges a sense of chaos and confusion in the daily news. Raging, cries of anger, and apocalyptic events multiply, seem muted and the result is the destabilization of democratic points of reference. The only responses to these events have been repression and control, a subversive use of disorder, or relativism and disengagement; reactions unlikely to meet the challenges of justice and emancipation. True to its mandate, the Festival des Libertés invites us to question these findings on chaos and to evaluate the impact of these reflexive responses on rights and freedoms, democracy, equality, secularism and social cohesion. The Festival induces us to leave behind panic, powerlessness and gloom, and to use judgment to understand the complexity of our era and to update the adjudication of freedoms, solidarities, and power in a changing world.