It was a meeting of like-minded men – Bovet’s owner Pascal Raffy and Paul Haggis – that gave rise to the partnership between Bovet and the Artists for Peace and Justice (APJ) Foundation, which for five years has been carrying out important work in Haiti. A school has been opened in the country to provide basic education for children, as well as an Art Academy for adults. “We believe that Education has the Power to change a Nation” has become the Foundation’s maxim and perfectly sums up the values shared by Bovet and APJ.

Bovet at the Artists for Peace and Justice Festival Lunch

From left: Moran Atias, Pascal Raffy, Paul Haggis, Loan Chabanol and Adrien Brody

This year’s Justice Festival Lunch took place on the fringes of the Toronto Film Festival and brought together many of the actors appearing in “The Third Person”, Paul Haggis’s latest film which he produced, wrote and directed, and also personalities from the world of TV and music, as well as 300 guests determined to support this noble cause.

An auction raised the exceptional sum of US$600,000, which will allow APJ to continue developing its activities on a long-term basis, educating more students and building new infrastructure. The highlight was the auction of a timepiece specially manufactured for this cause, a unique piece from the Château de Môtiers Collection displaying on its dial a gardenia, the symbol of purity, sincerity and beauty, painted by hand by one of the artisans of the house. The sum raised by this timepiece alone will provide for the schooling of 50 children for an entire year.