Global Migration Film Festival

During the annually celebrated Global Migration Film Festival (GMFF), an initiative launched globally by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in 2016, and held each year from the 28th of November until the 18th of December by missions across the globe, IOM Kuwait held a virtual screening of a migration related film, followed by a panel discussion with the participation of  four Professors from the American University of Kuwait (AUK).

Each year before the launch of the festival, IOM invites professional and emerging filmmakers to submit films that capture the promises as well as challenges of migration, and to showcase the unique contributions that they bring to their society, in accordance to the theme of the year.

The film screened in Kuwait was called ‘Women’s Country’, which is about a Turkish director’s everlasting search for the meaning of home. Displaced by the war in Syria and resettled in Florida, Fatima and Huda join the director in an exploration of all building a new home means; to leave things and people behind, by choice or not, and how the past is woven into the present.

Describing the film’s motif, Dr. Claire Giddings said, “I am very impressed with the diverse selection and poignant, timely themes of the GMFF 2020 films. Woman’s Country is an especially engaging view of the emotional and social upheaval displaced families try to navigate, and the pivotal and often unsung role women have in rebuilding a sense of security and community. The narrative of the film is fragmented with footage of astronauts and banal views of objects and locations. The interruptions mirror the disjointed reality the women in the film face as they remember the home they left and try to make a new start in another country.”

Following the closing of the festival, Dr. Shareefa Al-Adwani expressed her gratitude for being a part of this festival, “The IOM’s GMFF 2020 generously invited and hosted a diverse panel of local scholars to watch the film Women’s Country and discuss the implications of both the film and its content with the larger community. The interdisciplinary conversations offered connections between a transnational issue, refugees, and our everyday lives through an artistic medium, underscoring the importance of expression, empathy, and the need to continuously advocate for the advancement of people’s rights around the world. I would like to thank the IOM for the opportunity to take part in this significant discussion.”

The Global Migration Film Festival (GMFF) features films and documentaries that capture the promise and challenges of migration, and the unique contributions that migrants bring to their new host communities. The festival’s goal is to pave the way for greater discussions around the negative perceptions and attitudes towards refugees and migrants and strives to strengthen the social contract between host countries and communities, and refugees and migrants.