Category: Film Festivals

Mother Tongue Film Festival (Online)

Intercultural PedagogyThe Smithsonian Institution’s Mother Tongue Film Festival celebrates cultural and linguistic diversity by showcasing films and filmmakers from around the world in Washington, DC, until May 31, 2021.

Through digital storytelling, the festival amplifies the work of diverse practitioners who explore the power of language to connect the past, present, and future. Since 2016, the annual festival has celebrated International Mother Language Day on February 21. The sixth annual festival will take place via a monthly online screening series from February 21 to May 31, 2021.

Many of these films would be valuable in teaching about cultural differences, if not intercultural dialogue explicitly. The theme this year is The Healing Power of Storytelling.

Global Migration Film Festival 2020

Film Festivals

Global Migration Film Festival, International Organization for Migration, Geneva, Switzerland, November 28-December 18, 2020. 

The Global Migration Film Festival showcases films that capture the promise and challenges of migration, , and the unique contributions that migrants make to their new communities. The goal of the festival is to pave the way for greater discussion around one of the greatest phenomenon of our time.

This year’s film festival is taking place despite the global health emergency brought on by COVID-19, with the selected films offered through a virtual platform.

The objective of the GMFF is to use films as educational tools that influence perceptions of and attitudes towards migrants, by bringing attention to social issues and creating safe spaces for respectful debate and interaction. The Festival is an innovative creative avenue for normalizing discussions of migration through storytelling, and it is an advocacy tool that can also draw attention to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), thus helping all nations as they work to meet them.

 

South Asian Film Festival of Montréal (Canada but Online)

Film FestivalsSouth Asian Film Festival (SAFF) of Montréal, November 19-29, 2020.

Now in its 10th year, the South Asian Film Festival of Montréal (free and online this year) is committed to showcasing recent artistic work that fosters discussion and explores other parts of the world, both their similarities and differences. The Festival is a platform for filmmakers worldwide whose films have a focus on South Asia and the South Asian diaspora. A film-goer’s kaleidoscope of languages, sights and sounds, this year’s program highlights award-winning cinematic works about South Asians in Canada, USA, UK, France, Portugal, India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and South Africa, in languages as varied as Assamese, Bengali, English, French, Hindi, Khowar, Malayalam, Marathi, Nepali, Portuguese, Punjabi, Tamil, Tibetan and Urdu. Included are short, long, documentary and feature seIections. Daily post-film panel discussions will be more interesting than ever, with directors and producers from around the world. All films are subtitled in English and French.

All screenings and panel discussions are free, with donations gratefully welcome. Registration for films is mandatory.

RAI Film Festival (UK)

Film FestivalsRoyal Anthropological Institute (RAI) Film Festival, Bristol, UK. Deadline: 15 August 2020.

The RAI Film Festival celebrates documentaries and non-fiction films from around the globe that engage with themes of culture & society. It has a special focus on anthropological and ethnographic films. First held in 1985, and one of the longest-established in its field, the RAI FILM FESTIVAL serves as a leading forum for exploring the multiple relationships between documentary film-making, anthropology, visual culture, and the advocacy of cultural diversity and intercultural dialogue through film.

Calling for short, mid- and feature length documentaries, ethnographic / anthropological films, student films. Open to all.

The 17th RAI Film Festival will take place 25-28 March 2021 in Bristol, UK.

International Film Festival of Painted Birds (Spain)

Film Festivals

International Film Festival of Painted Birds, Organized by Meigas da rúa, Madrid, Spain. Deadline: 31 May 2020.

 

The International Film Festival of Painted Birds (Festival Internacional de los pájaros pintados) is devoted to short and feature-length films, fiction, documentaries and animation, with the aim of promoting intercultural dialogue, social cohesion and the defense of human rights, especially those of children, among children . We will disseminate quality cinematographic works that hardly reach Spain, trying not to fall into clichés. In this way, little by little the Festival intends to serve as a venue for meetings and discussions of projects of mutual interest. Organized by Meigas da rúa, member of The Global Alliance for Cultural Diversity and Anna Lindh Foundation, the festival will take place the second week of May, it is independent and awards will be granted by the jury and by the public.

Global Migration Film Festival

EventsGlobal Migration Film Festival, International Organization for Migration, Geneva, Switzerland. Submission Deadline: June 21, 2020. Event date: November 28-December 18, 2020.

The Global Migration Film Festival has an itinerant and unique format. The films that make up the Official Selection are included in a list which is then shared with about 100 IOM offices and partners worldwide. Each participating country office will then select the films to be screened locally during the Festival, which runs from 28 November – 18 December 2020, worldwide.

Filmmakers will receive a final list of countries where their films will be screened by mid-November. Films can be screened in impromptu scenarios, from traditional cinemas and universities worldwide, to open-air theatres in the desert in Niger and detention centers in Libya. All screenings are entrance free. This means that IOM needs the authorization from the films’ rightsholder(s) to host screenings without territory and frequency limitations for the duration of the Festival.

Mother Tongue Film Festival

Intercultural PedagogyThe Smithsonian Institution’s Mother Tongue Film Festival celebrates cultural and linguistic diversity by showcasing films and filmmakers from around the world in Washington, DC.

Through digital storytelling, the festival amplifies the work of diverse practitioners who explore the power of language to connect the past, present, and future. Since 2016, the annual festival has celebrated International Mother Language Day on February 21. The fifth annual festival took place February 20–23, 2020. Many of the shorter films are available to stream in full on their website.

Many of these films would be valuable in teaching about cultural differences, if not intercultural dialogue explicitly. Just the easily accessible short films range from Pire, a music video with lyrics in Mapuzugun, the Mapuche language of Argentina, to Grá & Eagla, following an Irish bilingual comedian using Gaeilge [Gaelic], to Puhi Toprao / To Be Happy, telling the creation story of the Yanomami in Venezuela in their own language.

 

SlowFood at the Migranti Film Festival

Applied ICDSlowFood recently posted an interesting article titled Glimpses and Smells: Recipes and Short Films, based on an interview of Diana Maria Tohătan (a Romanian immigrant to Italy, who prepared food for the Migranti Film Festival, held at the University of Gastronomic Sciences campus in Pollenzo and in Bra in June 2018. Among the quotes is this: “Food is a primary need, it’s the easiest way to start an intercultural dialogue” which shows the relevance of this article for followers of this site.

Additional resources on food as a form of intercultural interaction include:

Lum, C. M. K., & de Ferrière le Vayer, M. (Eds.). (2016). Urban foodways and communication: Ethnographic studies in intangible cultural food heritages around the world. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.

Leeds-Hurwitz, W. (1993). Semiotics and communication: Signs, codes, cultures. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. (see chapter 4: Food as sign and code).

South Asian Film Festival (Montreal)

An eclectic mix of award-winning films from the Indian subcontinent and its diaspora
Kabir Centre for Arts & Culture
The South Asian Film Festival of Montréal, 6th edition
Friday, November 4 – Sunday, November 6
Click HERE for all film descriptions and trailers

Kabir Centre for Arts & Culture is pleased to announce the 6th edition of the South Asian Film Festival of Montréal (SAFFMontréal), organized in collaboration with the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema of Concordia University, on November 4, 5 and 6. This innovative festival presents an eclectic choice of inspiring and thought-provoking films made in the countries of the Indian subcontinent (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Maldives) and its diaspora. These engaging and entertaining films have their focus on South Asia; while at the same time compel audiences to realize how much there is in common among cultures throughout the world, identifying both shared life-struggles and joys. Admission is free, with donations gratefully appreciated. Discussions are held after each screening.

The South Asian Film Festival will be presenting 17 films this year; short and long, documentaries and feature films, including comedy, drama and music. All films are subtitled in English and explained in French, with various original languages such as Urdu, Hindi, Tamil, Marathi, Malayalam, Bengali and English, as well as silent films, making them accessible to as many people as possible. The films have been carefully chosen from more than 1000 entries and all screenings will be followed by a talkback between spectators and a panel of experts. Directors for some of the films will be present, other times the directors will interact with the audience via Skype. Most of the films are recent and have won awards at international festivals. As in previous years, the films are drawn from different parts of the Indian subcontinent; recognized as the largest producers of films on the planet.

ProEtnica Intercultural Festival (Romania)

The Centre for Interethnic Youth Education Sighisoara (ibz) together with the Department for Inter-Ethnic Relations present the preliminary programme of the 14th edition of ProEtnica – Intercultural Festival Sighisoara which takes place from August 18 – 21, 2016.

Proetnica 2016

This year’s edition takes place under the patronage of the President of Romania, Klaus Werner Iohannis. There are going to be more than 50 artistic performances on the main stage as well as an arts and crafts fair featuring traditional craftworks manufactured by the national minorities. Further, a fine arts exhibition displays the works from ten contemporary artists belonging to the national minorities and is supplemented by three film screenings addressing the topic of intercultural dialogue.

In times of increased global migration, interethnic dialogue steadily gains importance within international peace negotiations. The ibz decided to dedicate this year’s edition of ProEtnica to the topic of interreligious dialogue. Eight events, i.a. scientific presentations and a symposium, address this subject matter from different perspectives and encourage further discussion on the challenges to intercultural peace in today’s world.

ProEtnica brings together more than 600 representatives of the 20 national minorities in Romania and offers them an opportunity to share their customs and actively engage in intercultural dialogue through different channels, e.g. the arts, scientific research or roundtable discussions. ProEtnica is an instrument which promotes the rights of cultural expression of the national minorities and, at the same time, strengthens cultural dialogue. Thus, ProEtnica contributes to the preservation and creation of the intercultural peace in a pluralistic and democratic society.

The ibz was founded in 2000. Its mission is to promote dialogue and interaction between people to foster mutual understanding and strengthen acceptance of ethnocultural differences.

Preliminary programme of ProEtnica –Intercultural Festival Sighisoara