Four films on the theme of war, hope and the human spirit will be shown free of charge at Paragon next week in the annual Refugee Film Festival.
A scene from War Witch.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), with the support of Paragon Cineplex, hosts the festival from June 20 to 23. The opening, however, will take place tonight with a special screening of Pushing The Elephant.
All four films and documentaries have Thai subtitles.
Ticket reservations can be made through UNHCR Thailand's Facebook page (www.facebook.com/UNHCRThailand).
UNHCR spokesperson Vivian Tan says the Refugee Film Festival, now in its third year in Thailand, shows these carefully selected films with the hopes of raising awareness of the plight of refugees, as a testament to the power of human will, and as a cautionary note against the cruelty of humanity. Tan adds, however, that these documentaries also demonstrate the compassion fellow humans often show each other, and that it is this benevolence that ultimately offsets the cruelty being enacted by a relative few throughout the world.
"The past two festivals have been received very well by the Thai people, and we are pleased to announce that the Refugee Film Festival will be an ongoing, annual event."
UNHCR functions within the parameters of the United Nations to provide humanitarian aid to refugees all over the world. In 1975, UNHCR was invited into Thailand by the government to assist with more than a million Southeast Asian refugees who had been displaced by the collapse of governments in places such as Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia.
The four films to be shown at the festival:
PUSHING THE ELEPHANT
This 2010 documentary directed by Beth Davenport and Elizabeth Mandel follows the life of Rose Mapendo, a Congolese woman who returns to her homeland after a decade in exile to advocate peace, mend her broken family, and battle the culture of war and conflict in her region. Along the way, Rose must find it in her heart to forgive one of her daughters, who stayed while the rest of her family fled.
IN A BETTER WORLD
This 2010 Danish drama directed by Susanne Bier relates the life of Anton, a doctor who commutes between a Danish town and an African refugee camp. On top of his vastly different lifestyle, Anton and his wife have two young children, are separated and struggling with divorce.
WAR WITCH
A 2012 Canadian drama directed by Kim Nguyen. The film deals with the plight of a 14-year-old child soldier named Komona who is forced to shoot her family at the age of 12 and enters into a sub-Saharan African army.
RUN FOR LIFE
A 2010 documentary that elucidates the struggles of three Ethiopian athletes hoping to make Serbia their home. After competing in the Podgorica half marathon in Montenegro, the three decide to stay in Serbia and apply for asylum. Zoran Molovic, a former athlete who finds out about the situation, brings the three to the village of Pambukovica and coaches them as they apply for citizenship.
