Ottawa, ON – Monday, November 30, 2020
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Starting Across Canada on Monday November 30: The One World Refugee Film Festival!
To celebrate its 30th anniversary and given the current circumstances due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the One World Film Festival (OWFF) will be presenting its first online festival of thought-provoking documentaries. The OWFF’s parent organization, One World Arts, is thrilled to be partnering with The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) Canada, Amnesty International Canada, CARE Canada and Oxfam Canada in this endeavour.
The One World Refugee Film Festival’s (OWRFF) program of films and discussions will address a range of issues related to refugees and forced displacement globally, and it will take place over a two-week period from December 1st to 14th, 2020. A pre-festival launch event will take place on November 30th, 2020 with the opening film I Am Rohingya, as a free preview to the OWRFF.
The festival offers six programs including screening of films on particular themes, as well as discussions such as Q&As, webinars, and panels. Program 1 is “Voices from Syria” which is presented by UNHCR Canada on December 1st with screenings of the documentaries Harmony After War, Wajd: Songs of Separation, La maison des syriens, and The Rest. A livestream of a conversation with Amar Chebib, the director of Wajd: Songs of Separation will accompany the screening. Program 2 on “The Rohingya crisis” is presented by Oxfam Canada on December 3rd with a screening of Exiled: The Roots of Myanmar’s Persecution of the Rohingya and I Am Rohingya, as well as a livestream on Art, Activism and the Rohingya Refugee Crisis. The third program on “The situation of LGBTQI+ refugees” is presented by Amnesty International Canada on December 8th. The program will include a screening of Unsettled: Seeking Refuge in America and Welcome to Chechnya as well as a live panel discussion with the directors of the films. Program 4 on “Refugees and the climate crisis” is presented by CARE Canada on December 10th and will include an armchair discussion with Jessie Thomson, Malual Bol Kiir and Nicole Bates-Eamer, as well as a screening of Fleeing Climate Change: The Real Environmental Disaster and Climate Refugees. The fifth program “Canadians speaking out for refugees” is presented by One World Arts on December 12th and will include a screening of The Least We Can Do followed by a livestream discussion “The Clock is Ticking: Urgent Situation Unfolding for the Yazidi” including speakers Majed El Shafie and Lloyd Axworthy. Program 6 on “Memory and the refugee experience” is presented by UNHCR Canada on December 14th marking the 70th anniversary since the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Statute of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. The final program in the festival will include a conversation with Jonathan Durand, Rema Jamous Imseis and Jim Creskey, and a screening of Memories of Mogadishu, Memory Is Our Homeland, and Yemen: The Silent War.
For over 30 years, the OWFF has been engaging audiences in the National Capital Region on important social justice issues of local to global concern, relying on the commitment and energy of a small group of dedicated volunteers. “This year we are thrilled to be able to partner with the Ottawa office of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, Oxfam, Amnesty International, and CARE, to present the One World Refugee Film Festival as our main event,” says OWA president Gerry Schmitz. “Although the pandemic situation presents challenges, it has also pushed us to explore an online event accessible across Canada with the potential to reach and engage new audiences. With the support of these partners we are learning how to carry forward the mission of the One World Film Festival by creating opportunity out of crisis.” One World Arts would like to thank our funders the City of Ottawa and Ontario Arts Council and our organizational partners for their support.
“When we conceived the idea of the OWFF 30 years ago, our vision was to create a Canadian film festival that would support independent filmmakers and mobilize citizens on global issues. We strive to connect independent filmmakers and audiences through post-screening discussions and networking—often involving local and global NGO experts—on matters of current international concern. Our focus is on what we as citizens can do, at the local and national level, to address those global challenges,” says OWFF co-founder Sharon Goldhawk.
“The forced displacement—through war, civil strife, environmental degradation or other causes—of persons in large numbers across borders is a compelling phenomenon of our time, made even more pressing by the present global pandemic. OWA & OWFF has always had a special focus on refugees, and the social justice, human rights and economic issues that frame the challenges refugees confront. This year, we are honoured to partner with the Ottawa office of the UNHCR, Oxfam, Amnesty International and CARE in a focus on the growing crisis of refugees in our special online collaborative OWRFF 2020 program,” says Goldhawk.
The One World Refugee Film Festival will be accessible virtually across Canada at owrff2020.eventive.org. A festival pass is $30 and includes access to all contents over the duration of the festival as well as a one year One World Arts membership. Single program tickets are $10 each. All proceeds from pass and ticket sales will go to charities chosen by each partner organization.
One World Refugee Film Festival 2020 official trailer.
Free preview for pre-launch festival event on Eventbrite.
Media contact:
Mukarram Ramadan
Events and Communications Coordinator, One World Film Festival
Board Member, One World Arts
mukarram@oneworldarts.ca
A PDF of this press release is available here.