Armenian Genocide and Sexual Violence: Survival and Testimony

Event

Fifdh

A Debate and Film Screening at the 21st International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights (FIFDH)

When mass crimes are committed, women's bodies are the focus of major concern, while the sexual violence they endure is most often suppressed, hidden and ignored. But how to survive? How, and at what cost, can people testify about these horrors?

We are co-organizing this event at the 21st International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights (FIFDH) with the University of Geneva Law Faculty and our faculty member Professor Sévane Garibian.

The debate is preceded by the screening of Aurora's Sunrise, a film in competition for creative documentaries.

Debate

• Inna Sahakyan, Director of the film Aurora's Sunrise
• Sévane Garibian, Professor in International Criminal Law and Transitional Justice, University of Geneva Law Faculty

About Aurora's Sunrise

The Ottoman Empire, 1915. Aurora is 14 years old when her life and that of an entire people turn to horror: massacres, sexual assaults, slavery, forced exile... From the Ottoman Empire to New York, the teenager is propelled onto the Hollywood scene where her story is the subject of a famous film, Souls for Sale. Filmmaker Inna Sahakyan's documentary is interspersed with animation, archive footage and interviews with Aurora Mardiganian. Aurora's Sunrise relates a tragic event in contemporary Armenian history by chronicling the personal journey of Aurora, one of the survivors of the genocide.

More Information

You can find here more information about this event.