Featuring award-winning films from Tunisia, Ukraine, Afghanistan, Canada, Congo, and the U.S.
The annual WNY Refugee Film Festival (WNYRFF) has become a real eye-opener into the struggles, hopes, and achievements of the international refugee community. The film festival tells the stories of the refugees, as they seek refuge in safe havens around the world, where they can better realize their dreams. The films range from heartfelt introspectives, to hard-hitting looks at the struggles to achieve a sense of place.
This is the 5th year that Journey’s End Refugee Services has hosted WNYRFF. This year, the festival – titled Reel Refugees, will be premiering in February. The films will be screened virtually on Thursdays at 7pm Eastern. The festival is free, although donations are welcome.
The 2023 festival will feature six award-winning films that recount the stories of the refugees that might not otherwise be told.
Karen M. Andolina Scott, CEO of Journey’s End, said, “Buffalo is the best and most logical home for a refugee film festival, as we are a welcoming city for refugees from around the world. We are proud to be celebrating our fifth anniversary of hosting powerful films and special guest speakers virtually so anyone, anywhere, can join us. It is our privilege to elevate the stories and voices of refugees and their supporters, especially as the number of people forcibly displaced from their homes in the world now tops 100 million people, or one person in every 77.”
Films in this year’s festival include:
- Refuge: A Story About Fear and Love in the American South* – A documentary that chronicles the extraordinary friendship between Iraq war vet and former member of the Ku Klux Klan, Chris Buckley, and Syrian Kurdish refugee and cardiologist Heval Kelli, in the small town of Clarkston, Georgia, the most diverse square mile in the U.S.
- The story of a gay Ugandan refugee coping with newfound freedom in Canada
- A Syrian refugee who fled to Ukraine, only to flee again when the Russian army invaded Eastern Ukraine
- An Afghan filmmaker who films on his cell phone the flight of his family from Afghanistan to safety in Europe
Seeing that Buffalo has become home to thousands of immigrants and refugees, it’s important to understand the context of the scenarios that have led to their arrival. These refugees have helped to change the face of Buffalo, by contributing to a more culturally diverse landscape. It’s a mutually beneficial relationship that will bear fruits for generations.
*WNYRFF will kick off is fifth season with the premiere of Refuge: A Story About Fear and Love in the American South, on Thursday, February 16, at 7pm. Buckley will participate in a talkback, along with co-director Din Blankenship, immediately following the screening.
For a complete schedule and more details on the films to be screened as part of the WNY Refugee Film Festival, visit: www.wnyrff.org.
WNYRFF is sponsored by Lawley, Rigidized Metals, AML RightSource LLC, Try-It Distributing, Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield of Western New York, PCA Technology Group, Inc., The Yelp Elite Squad of WNY, and Church World Service.