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Refugee Week Online Film Festival

Join Refugee Week’s Simple Acts campaign and watch award-winning movies about exile all at the click of a button!

When and where

10 - 25 June 2010 at www.brightwide.com

A still from the Moving to Mars film showing a family of Burmese refugees.

Refugee Week is a unique opportunity to discover and celebrate refugees’ stories of survival. And Brightwide can help you do just that.

In partnership with Refugee Action, Brightwide have selected six award-winning films about exile for you to watch exclusively online at brightwide.com until 25 June.

Brightwide is a unique film website showcasing some of the best in recent world cinema. Set up by BAFTA-winning actor Colin Firth and his wife Livia, the website will be hosting films which explore the refugee experience such as In This World, Welcome, La Forteresse and No One Knows About Persian Cats throughout Refugee Week.

Mr Firth, who campaigns for refugee rights, said: “Our online festival will bring the experience of exile, and the situations that compel people to become refugees, to life. Refugee Week is all about celebrating the contribution of refugees to the UK, but it is also about nurturing a better understanding of the issues that face people in exile. Brightwide is proud to play its part in mobilising support for this important cause.”

What’s on?

No One Knows About Persian Cats
Winner of the Special Jury Prize at Un Certain Regard in Cannes, this is the story of young artists struggling to express themselves in Iran’s underground rock scene.

In This World
Directed by Michael Winterbottom, In This World follows the journey of two Afghan boys from a refugee camp in Pakistan as they attempt to reach Europe and rebuild their lives.

Welcome
This multi-award winning film tells the story of Bilal, a young Kurdish refugee ready to do anything to be reunited with his girlfriend in England.

Moving to Mars
Moving to Mars portrays the tender and humorous story of two families of Burmese refugees as they arrive in the UK from a Thai refugee camp.

La Forteresse
Awarded the Golden Leopard, La Forteresse brings a camera for the first time into the hidden world of a Swiss reception centre for asylum seekers.