About True Heroes Platform
A space for visibility, context, and protective recognition - built to support human rights defenders and those who stand with them.
True Heroes Films Association is a non-profit registered in Geneva under Swiss law. The platform is for informational and educational use; THF does not replace any human rights organisation or institution. Verify information independently and seek professional advice where needed.
A mother searching for a disappeared child. A journalist documenting a massacre. A lawyer preparing a UN submission. A young person trying to understand why rights and rules matter for their freedom and safety. Someone standing in solidarity with justice and the rule of law. Someone inspired by a story of courage. We treat the person’s situation as central, as the starting point to look at institutions and treaties.
The platform carries stories of people who stood up, often at great personal risk, so that others can learn from them, feel less alone, and find the courage to act.
Whether you need to see what others have done, learn how to do it, or act with better tools, the platform is organised around three pillars :
- ENGAGE - Stories, films, findings, reports, procedures. Context and visibility: who has been recognised, how mechanisms work, what the field looks like.
- EQUIP - Methods, training, case-building, protection guides, simulations. Practical know-how so you can document, analyse and operate more safely and effectively.
- DEFEND - Toolbox, reference cards, investigation workflows, submissions, nominations, follow & subscribe. Direct support for defenders and those standing with them.
STORYSCAPE presents information and knowledge as an editorial story - film, context and insights brought together in curated playlines with a clear narrative perspective. Each storyscape gives a human rights situation a shape: not a search result, but a composed view.
PATHS are guided cross-pillar journeys from educational exploration to field-ready action, structured by theme, region or situation. They take you from a question or a role to the right content and steps - rather than leaving you to navigate menus.
True Heroes Films (THF) started in Geneva as a filmmaking organisation: human rights documentaries, portraits of defenders, thematic work on torture, peace, dialogue. Our approach was never simply media or journalism - the human story and the evidentiary record, always together. We work in partnership with major international media outlets and broadcasters such as BBC, international organisations including UN agencies and human rights bodies, and governments. We run a fully equipped studio next to the UN building, at the centre of international human rights work.
From our collaborations and field work, we saw how much powerful information existed - research, documentation, testimonies, legal frameworks, the actions people were taking - but it was scattered and often disconnected from the human stories at its centre. We wanted to bring it together from a personal and human perspective.
The platform grew from that experience. The Digest of awards and laureates, the methods and training, the toolbox and submission flows - they came from collaborations in the field. We named the shift explicitly: from making films about defenders to building infrastructure for them.
THF is still a Geneva-based association (founded 2006 in the Netherlands, moved 2013 to Geneva). Revenue comes from projects and partnerships. The committee - Chair: Hans Thoolen, Secretary: Katharina Vogeli, Treasurer: Lukas Biedermann, and Margaret Sekaggya - oversees a core team of filmmakers, communication specialists and developers. We often work in hostile environments; for safety, only the committee is listed here. Names of the team are available upon request; not all members are publicly listed.
Contact: True Heroes Films Association, 3 rue de Varembé, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland - info@trueheroesfilms.org, www.trueheroesfilms.org. We also have an office in the Netherlands: Hooghiemstraplein 165, 3514 AZ Utrecht.
Core legal documents are below. Where available, use View to read in full or Download PDF (browser print dialog → Save as PDF).
Group A - Core Legal Documents
Available upon request - contact info@trueheroesfilms.org
- Board Regulations
- Code of Conduct
- Conflict of Interest Policy
- Whistleblower Policy
- Safeguarding Policy
- Financial Regulations
- Grant Management Policy
- Risk Management Framework