Geneva — After over 340 screenings in some 100 countries, the film winners of the Global Migration Film Festival will be announced on International Migrants Day (18 December), during the closing ceremony in Geneva, which will take place at the traditional Maison des Arts du Grütli.

The event will include screening of the 10-minute participatory video short film Together United, Not Fragmented created in Jordan by migrants, followed by the screening of Problemski Hotel, by Manu Riche, an acid drama/comedy which portrays the lives of asylum seekers living in limbo in Belgium.

After the screenings, the winners of the Festival selected by the international jury will be announced. In total, six cash prizes will be given:  Three to the Emerging Category Filmmakers and three to the professional category.

In addition to the cash prize, the first place of the professional category will receive the most prestigious prize, La Cosmopolita, the Festival award statuette made by Mwafak.

Mwafak, a Syrian artist who sought refuge in Beirut, and eventually resettled abroad, is one of the main protagonists in the opening film of the Global Migration Film Festival in Geneva ­– Lost in Lebanon. The artist was commissioned to create the award statue for the Festival.

Mwafak describes La Cosmopolita, the statuette he has created as: “A human, female figure standing upright, portraying an optimistic gesture. The woman stands as a symbol of harmonic life and consistent peace. She looks up to the sky, into the future.”

The closing ceremony will end with a traditional cocktail prepared by Cuisine Lab, an organization led by migrants with special skills in the kitchen, sharing their culture and captivating people through flavours from different countries.

“We wanted to use the power of movies to bring communities and other stakeholders together around a screen to think, get inspired, learn and debate about the challenges and promises of migration. Films can be a tool to trigger some very much needed changes in policies and general behaviour towards migrants,” explained Amanda Nero, Festival Director.

The closing ceremony screening is organized in partnership with Ciné-ONU. Entrance will be free but on a first come, first served basis.

The Festival has been done in partnership with DHL, IOM Development Fund, Aware Migrants campaign and dozens of local partners in different regions of the world.

About the Festival

For over a century, filmmakers, many of them immigrants themselves, have been making movies about a world on the move – relating dramatic and poignant stories of migrants to diverse global audiences. Films have the power to show different facets of life, through which viewers may cultivate deeper empathy for migrants and a better understanding of their realities, needs, perspectives and capacities.

The objective of the GMFF is to use films as educational tools that influence perceptions of and attitudes towards migrants bringing attention to particular social issues. Films can: inform, inspire, transform and promote inclusion.

Last year, the inaugural Global Migration Film Festival saw 89 countries participating across five continents. This year the Festival reached some 100 countries from cinemas to concert halls and even impromptu settings in the midst of emergencies in countries such as South Sudan and Yemen.

For more information, please contact Amanda Nero at IOM HQ, Tel: +41767883785, Email: anero@iom.int