Izmir International Refugee Film Festival
Introduction
Migration is a global phenomenon that is growing exponentially and will affect the future of humanity forever. It is caused by wars, economic crises and climate change. Every year, millions of people are forced to leave their lands and homes in search of safer places and better livelihoods.
Sadly, the scale of migration and its effects in the destination countries are attributed to refugees – not to those who instigate wars and cause ecological damage that force the refugees to seek refuge! Therefore, instead of mistakenly perceiving of refugees as a threat to our jobs and security, we should remember that one day we can all be refugees forced to leave our homes and countries!
There is hostility towards refugees in many parts of the world. Unfortunately, this has reached alarming levels in our country, Turkey, where “refugee hate” is being normalized. In the Association for Bridging Peoples, we fight against this culture of hatred and work to build lives together with refugees.
We have always considered cinema as an integral part of our effort towards welcoming refugees and drawing attention to their lives in Turkey and globally. In line with this tradition, we are organizing the Fourth İzmir International Refugee Film Festival at the French Cultural Centre from 24 – 27 April 2025.
The festival will feature both fictional and documentary films made by refugees or focusing on refugees. Currently, we have a total of 170 applications, including short, feature, fiction and documentary films that will be shown at the festival. The selection committee is working diligently to create a 4-day program.
We look forward with great excitement to the festival, which will lift veil cast over the ‘invisible’ refugees and put their daily lives and stories centre stage. After all, we are all refugees!!