“We’re incredibly excited to announce our Refugee Week film programme. Now more than ever, it’s vital that we engage with powerful stories from filmmakers from refugee and migrant backgrounds.
We’ve worked tirelessly to put together a programme that showcases a wide range of genres and styles from filmmakers across the world.
They range from laugh out loud coming-of-age films to edge-of-your-seat thrillers to jaw-dropping docs to introspective Sci-Fi. There is something for everyone here- and they can be enjoyed amongst your community for free!” Laith, Pop Culture and Social Change Producer at Counterpoints Arts
FREE Refugee Week Film Programme
Counterpoints Arts and Other Cinemas present a special film FREE programme available during Refugee Week, featuring three feature films and six short films available for free screenings across the UK and overseas. Notable films include:
- Nezouh by Soudade Kaadan: Audience Award winner at the Venice Film Festival, Nezouh is an unexpectedly hilarious, gentle and touching coming-of-age film set amidst the Syrian war in Damascus.
- Little Pyongyang by Roxy Rezvany: With exclusive access to one of the world’s largest community on North Korean defectors, this is a tale of one North Korean’s struggle to leave behind the homeland.
- In Vitro by Larissa Sansour and Søren Lind : A sci-fi film exploring a Palestinian mother-daughter relationship in exile, featuring Hiam Abbas, considering what it may mean to rebuild a home one has never seen or has long lost.
Available for at home viewing or community screenings. For access to these films, visit this link.
There will also be the following streaming opportunties:
- MUBI, global streaming platform, production company and film distributor of films by emerging and established filmmakers will launch Oscar-nominated Io Capitano by Matteo Garrone on their platform for Refugee Week,
- BFI Player have compiled a Refugee Week collection of free films and rental films
Key Screenings in London:
- Io Capitano by Matteo Garrone: This Oscar-nominated film follows two Senegalese teenagers, Seydou and Moussa, as they journey from Dakar to Italy, facing deserts, detention centers, and perilous seas in pursuit of a better life. This film will also be screened at the BFI on Monday 17th June at 17:50 and this event will be followed by a panel discussion.
- We Dare to Dream + ScreenTalk with Waad Al-Kateab and Ornella Mutoni: On June 19th at 18:15, the Barbican will screen this powerful documentary by Waad Al-Kateab (For Sama), highlighting refugee athletes from Iran, Syria, South Sudan, and Cameroon as they train for the Olympics.
- Talking with Rivers/The List by Mohsen and Hana Makhmalbaf: Talking with Rivers (Mohsen Makhmalbaf, 2023),a film essay featuring a poetic conversation between two neighbouring nations, Iran and Afghanistan, as they consider their shared and troubled history. Screening alongside it will be The List (Hana Makhmalbaf, 2023), which follows Mohsen Makhmalbaf, as he negotiates with international agencies and embassies for refugee relief in an unsettling portrait of artists attempting to flee Afghanistan following the sudden US and allied withdrawal in 2021. The BFI screenings on 23rd June will be followed by a Q&A with both directors.
- Green Border by Agnieszka Holland: Premiering on June 21st at the BFI, some 30 years after she made Europa Europa, three-time Oscar-nominee Agnieszka Holland returns with a powerful, timely and award-winning feature that speaks to the heart as it addresses global migration with striking urgency. This award-winning film addresses the migrant crisis at the Polish-Belarusian border, focusing on personal stories of refugees, aid workers, and border guards.
- Little Pyongyang by Roxy Rezvany: A tale of one North Korean’s struggle to leave behind the homeland, Joong-wha Choi, a former soldier in the DPRK, lives today with his wife and kids in a sleepy London suburb. Despite enjoying the new found comforts of his British life, and being emancipated from the pressures of the North Korean state, his dilemma lies in a desire to return to the land that betrayed him, but is undoubtedly his true home. This screening will be followed by a Q&A session in conversation with the film’s director Roxy Rezvany, and members of the North Korean community. This event will be moderated by Laith Elzubaidi from PopChange.
- Drift by Anthony Chen: Presented by London Breeze festival Drift is the first English language feature film from Singaporean director, Anthony Chen which will be screened on the last day of Refugee Week on the 23rd June at the Garden Cinema, followed by a Q&A with screenwriter Susanne Farrell. The film tells the story of a young refugee’s struggle (played by Cynthia Erivo) for survival on a Greek island. While gathering her strength, she begins a friendship with a rootless tour-guide (Alia Shawkat) and together they find the resilience to forge ahead. PopChange’s Ornella Mutoni will join the panel discussion following this screening.
These screenings are part of PopChange initiative, (Pop Culture & Social Change) the pioneering initiative led by Counterpoints Arts which explores how the power of pop culture can be harnessed for social change in order to shift the way we talk, think and feel about migration and displacement.
