Established in 1951, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) 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 Global Migration Film Festival (GMFF) in 2016. 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.
The goal of the Festival is to pave the way for greater discussion around one of the greatest phenomena of our time: migration. Furthermore, 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.
IMPORTANT
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.
/ 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.
