Sylvain Garel (born 1956) is a French

Green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a com ...

politician.

Early life

Garel was born in the

18th arrondissement The 18th arrondissement of Paris (''XVIIIe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 arrondissements, or administrative districts, of the capital city of France. In spoken French, this arrondissement is referred to as ''dix-huitième''. The arrondiss ...

of Paris. He has a master's degree in Contemporary History and specializes in Film History. He entered politics at age 17, in the Ecologist movement, after campaigning for

René Dumont René Dumont (13 March 1904 – 18 June 2001) was a French engineer in agronomy, a sociologist, and an environmental politician. Biography Dumont was born in Cambrai, Nord, in the north of France. His father was a professor in agriculture an ...

who was the first French ecologist to run for president. He joined the Green Party in 1989. He trained as a teacher and works as a historian and film critic.

Career

Garel founded a festival for

Cinema of Quebec The history of cinema in Quebec started on June 27, 1896 when the Frenchman Louis Minier inaugurated the first movie projection in North America in a Montreal theatre room. However, it would have to wait until the 1960s before a genuine Quebe ...

in France in 1991, over which he presided for six years. As a member of Critic's week, he attends the

Cannes Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around t ...

. He was the vice-president of the French Trade Union for Cinema Critics. An ardent anti-fascist, Garel in the early 1990s cofounded " Ras l'Front", a French network fighting racialism and

white supremacy White supremacy is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White supremacy has roots in the now-discredited doctrine ...

. Garel is a

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

city councillor. He ran for

Europe Écologie–The Greens The Ecologists – Europe Ecology The Greens (), commonly known as The Ecologists (, LE) and formerly as Europe Ecology The Greens ( , EELV ) until 2023, is a centre-left to left-wing green political party in France. The party is a member of th ...

in 2001. He is a former president of the Greens group, who deployed a banner in support of Chinese and Tibetan political prisoners while the 2008

Olympic torch The Olympic flame is a Olympic symbols, symbol used in the Olympic movement. It is also a symbol of continuity between ancient and modern games. The Olympic flame is lit at Olympia, Greece, several months before the Olympic Games. This ceremony s ...

was at the Eiffel Tower. On 29 January 2009, at a reception for the

Chinese New Year Chinese New Year, or the Spring Festival (see also #Names, § Names), is a festival that celebrates the beginning of a New Year, new year on the traditional lunisolar calendar, lunisolar Chinese calendar. It is one of the most important holi ...

at the Paris city hall, he submitted a memorandum requesting the release of Chinese and Tibetan political prisoners. One of his political goals is to have the traditionalist

Society of St. Pius X The Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX; ("Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X"), FSSPX) is a canonically irregular traditionalist Catholic priestly fraternity founded in 1970 by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre. Lefebvre was a leading traditionalist ...

evicted from the

Saint-Nicolas-du-Chardonnet Saint-Nicolas du Chardonnet () is a Catholic church in the centre of Paris, France, in the 5th arrondissement. It was constructed between 1656 and 1763. The facade was designed in the classical style by Charles Le Brun. It contains many notable ...

church in Paris. In 2002, he led the Paris municipal council to pass a resolution against what he claims to be an illegal occupation. On 8 December 2003, he supported 200 illegal migrants to occupy this church for several hours. They had to leave the building after the intervention of a parishioners. As President of the district council of

Montmartre Montmartre ( , , ) is a large hill in Paris's northern 18th arrondissement of Paris, 18th arrondissement. It is high and gives its name to the surrounding district, part of the Rive Droite, Right Bank. Montmartre is primarily known for its a ...

, he turned the spot into the first green district of the capital. In 2004, Garel opposed municipal subsidies for Jewish Loubavitch, claiming that they discriminate against non-Jewish children. In 2006, Garel opposed giving

John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

's name to a public place in front of the

Notre-Dame Cathedral Notre-Dame de Paris ( ; meaning "Cathedral of Our Lady of Paris"), often referred to simply as Notre-Dame, is a medieval Catholic cathedral on the Île de la Cité (an island in the River Seine), in the 4th arrondissement of Paris, France. It ...

in Paris. Garel quoted the late Pope's opposition to abortion as a reason for not honouring him, along with his opposition to safe sex practices and opposition to contraception. In 2010 he called for a National Day without a military parade. In September Garel opposed a settlement between the City of Paris and its former mayor

Jacques Chirac Jacques René Chirac (, ; ; 29 November 193226 September 2019) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He was previously Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and 1986 to 1988, as well as Mayor of Pari ...

in a corruption scandal. In October 2010, Garel promoted the opening of an experimental drug consumption room in Paris. In 2011, he protested against the erection of a marble

stele A stele ( ) or stela ( )The plural in English is sometimes stelai ( ) based on direct transliteration of the Greek, sometimes stelae or stelæ ( ) based on the inflection of Greek nouns in Latin, and sometimes anglicized to steles ( ) or stela ...

in the

church, in memory of those who suffered for their fidelity to

French Algeria French Algeria ( until 1839, then afterwards; unofficially ; ), also known as Colonial Algeria, was the period of History of Algeria, Algerian history when the country was a colony and later an integral part of France. French rule lasted until ...

. In June 2011, Garel appeared on the "shame list" of French politicians published by ''Europe-Israel'', a lobby fighting

antisemitism Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

bigotry Prejudice can be an affective feeling towards a person based on their perceived social group membership. The word is often used to refer to a preconceived (usually unfavourable) evaluation or classification of another person based on that pers ...

and

anti-Zionism Anti-Zionism is opposition to Zionism. Although anti-Zionism is a heterogeneous phenomenon, all its proponents agree that the creation of the State of Israel in 1948, and the movement to create a sovereign Jewish state in the Palestine (region) ...

. Garel was appointed in 2014 as a project manager for the International relationships of the City of Paris. In 2016 he joined the Association Internationale des Maires Francophones (AIMF) for promoting French-language cinema.

References

External links

Paris18.Paris-EELV.fr information
{{DEFAULTSORT:Garel, Sylvain 1956 births Living people Europe Ecology – The Greens politicians Politicians from Paris