The day after the confinement, Jackie Helfgott, cultural assistant in Thionville but also a doctor, said he was shocked by the reactions of the inhabitants who felt that they had been deprived of their freedom. He wanted to create a small symposium around the theme and approached the association Des Mots & Débats. With the support of cultural services, Politéïa has been imagined and will be launched from March 16 to 19 in Thionville. “This is a festival of ideas around the theme of freedom, recalled the elected official during the press conference on Tuesday February 7. We wanted to give meaning to this word that had been undermined. »
To do this, the organizers saw the big picture. “We managed to rally sixty personalities to our first festival,” says Pascal Didier, president of Les Mots & Débats. They will come from everywhere, from different universes and will take part in round tables, conferences, history or philosophy lessons. Politicians, journalists, top reporters, writers and historians have agreed to take part in this unprecedented event. “We’ve been working on it for a year, admits Jackie Helfgott, the association has been able to use its network and raise awareness. Something big is going to happen in Thionville. Women’s freedom, to move around, to draw, to express themselves… will be among the topics discussed. Journalists from national media such as L’Obs, Charlie Hebdo, France Inter will lead the discussions.
A unifying biennial around a societal subject
Various events will be added to the interventions. “Because desires for freedom are swarming everywhere,” noted the philosopher from Thionville, Michaël Foessel. There will be shows, film screenings, music too, as well as interviews and workshops in colleges and high schools. “It’s a free event,” adds Pascal Didier. The meeting will be given at La Scala, at the theatre, at the Casino, at Puzzle. “We want to allow everyone to better understand freedom, to remember that it is never acquired, that it supposes a perpetual fight”, estimates Jackie Helfgott. Politéïa was designed to become a unifying event which would take place every two years around a new theme. A whole poem to discover from March 16 at 8:30 p.m. until March 19 at 6 p.m.
