IOM Calls for Entries for Global Migration Film Festival

0
176
AntĂłnio Vitorino, Director General, IMO
AntĂłnio Vitorino, Director General, IMO

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has called for entries for the Global Migration Film Festival(GMFF) scheduled to run worldwide from November 28 to December 18, 2020.

Its goal is to pave the way for greater discussion around migration, one of the greatest phenomena of our time. In addition, it is an innovative avenue for normalizing discussions of migration through storytelling, and an advocacy tool that can draw attention to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), thus helping all nations as they work to meet them.

The GMFF has an itinerant and unique format with the films that make up the Official Selection collated and included in a list which is shared with about 100 IOM offices and partners worldwide. Each participating country office will thereafter select the films to be screened locally during the Festival.

All submissions for the Festival should portray the challenges and promises of migration, and the unique contributions migrants make to their new communities. The Festival also welcomes films that tackle negative perceptions of migrants, defy stereotypes and portray positive and welcoming actions by and toward migrants.

Films to be submitted should be in English or subtitled in English, though subtitles are encouraged, even if the dialogue is in English, to ensure maximum comprehension for global audiences. Entries in other languages are encouraged but must have subtitles in English.

Eligible films that will be considered must have been completed on or after January 1, 2017. There is no fee to submit films.

Films of all genres (feature, documentary, animation, etc.) and lengths will be accepted from April 6 through June 21, 2020.Although films produced with any financial support from IOM are eligible to be part of the Official Selection, they will however not be eligible for the payment of screening fees.

Awards and Prizes will be given in the following categories:

  • Full-length Features (TRT over 41 minutes) – to be part of the official selection of the Global Migration Film Festival. The best film selected by an International Jury receives a cash prize.
  • Short Films (films between 15 and 40 minutes) – to be part of the official selection of the Global Migration Film Festival. The best film selected by an International Jury receives a cash prize.
  • Online Films-Films of all the genres and lengths which have been agreed to be screened online by the filmmaker. The best film selected by the audience will receive a cash prize.
  • Other prizes will be announced later this year.

The festival will inform applicants by mid-August if their film is selected and for each selected film, the filmmaker or the individual responsible for the submission should be prepared to provide relevant still images, a trailer, the filmmaker’s biography, a photo of the film’s director and the transcripts for subtitling.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) was established in 1951 and is the leading inter-governmental organization in the field of migration, working to help ensure the orderly and humane management of this global phenomenon. Over the years, films have been used to inform, entertain, educate and provoke debate. It is in this spirit that IOM launched the GMFF in 2016 and in 2019, an Official Selection of 32 films led to over 700 screenings in 108 countries around the world, attended by a global audience of around 60,000 people.

To submit entries, interested filmmakers have to first register at https://filmfreeway.com/GlobalMigrationFilmFestival.