Fiammetta Venner

About Fiammetta Venner

Political scientist, Fiammetta Venner is the author of numerous essays and a filmmaker focusing on the far right, anti-abortion Christian fundamentalist movements, and Islamist movements. In 1997, she founded the ProChoix journal with Caroline Fourest and Moruni Turlot. Her favorite themes are the protection of secularism, women’s rights, and LGBTQ rights.

In 1998, she co-authored a book on companies financing the Front National, The FN Sponsors Guide (with Caroline Fourest, Castells Raymond editions).

In 2001, she defended a Political Science thesis on the French radical right based on one of the most extensive databases ever created on all far-right mobilizations, all trends combined, in France. This thesis was updated and published by Grasset under the title Extreme France in September 2006.

In 2003, she co-authored a book, Crossfire (with Caroline Fourest, Calmann-Lévy, 2003) on “secularism tested by Jewish, Christian, and Muslim fundamentalism”.

From 2004 to 2009, she collaborated with Charlie Hebdo, before becoming a columnist for two years on France Culture, and finally joining the production team at France Inter.

She continues her fight against fundamentalist movements today, as evidenced by her latest works The New Soldiers of the Vatican (Livre de poche, 2011) and Marine Le Pen Unmasked (Livre de poche, 2012).

As a documentary filmmaker, she has made films such as “Certified Virgins” on hymen reconstruction for Envoyé spécial (France 2) in 2008, “The Battle for Human Rights” on the Durban 2 conference and the Human Rights Council in 2009 for ARTE, “Little Soldiers Against Abortion” in 2011 (Canal +) or the highly acclaimed “Marine Le Pen: The Heiress” (December 15, 2012 on France 2). Since 2007, she has been creating with Caroline Fourest a series of 100 portraits titled “100 Muslim Women Tell Their Stories”.

Photo Credit: Gilles Dacquin