LMFF 2019 PROGRAMME
We have categorised the films thematically, bringing together shorts, features and panels in a way that allows us to draw comparisons, analysing the most pressing themes from diverse perspectives.
To know more about each individual film presented within LMFF 2019 please check our film list page.
Some details may be added/changed prior to the screenings, so please keep on checking our page!
Check out our new online programme here!
London Migration Film Festival Opening Gala
Aga is the story of an elderly couple living in the Russian tundra. Their daughter has left their yurt to go and work in a mine, and melting ice is threatening their survival.
Join us for the Opening Gala of London Migration Film Festival 2019, and explore the impact that climate emergency and urbanisation have on traditional livelihoods in the Global South.
A wine reception will be offered before the screening by the Centre for Migration and Diaspora Studies at SOAS. Q&A with:
Bhavna Dave Senior Lecturer in Central Asian Politics at the Department of Politics and International Studies
Minnie Rahman works for the Join Council for the Welfare of Immigrants and is a writer and campaigner specialising in migrant’s rights, climate change and social justice.
Alessandra Sciarra business development manager at Lewisham Refugee and Migrant Network, responsible for their campaign, advocacy and research work.
Thursday 28 November, 7.10pm at SOAS, Brunei Gallery Lecture Theatre.
Arab Blues + Scirocco + The Monsters
Arab Blues (feature): After years abroad in Paris, Selma returns ‘home’ to Tunis to set up a psychoanalysis practice to help local citizens cope with the stress of the post-Arab Spring cultural and social changes taking place.
Scirocco (short): Based on the findings of investigative research in Tunis, the film portrays the story of one, to show the impact of deportation policies on migrants crossing the Mediterranean in search for a better life.
The Monsters (short): Petru, Lilou, Esther and Baisengour are between six and nine years old. And today it’s Halloween in a school in Paris. We take the monsters out of the closet, draw them, line by line, to try to tame them.
Friday 29 November, 6.30pm at Genesis Cinema
Panel/discussion:
Media and migrant decision-making
Almost every day people in the global North are able to read about migration tragedies: from deaths on route, to the discrimination faced even once the destination is reached.
But what role does, could and should the media have in influencing people’s decisions about whether to migrate? Some organisations are starting to focus on showing prospective migrants the ‘realities’ of migration - in which the journey is sometimes more dangerous then what is being fled. But how powerful is the media in shaping decision-making? Whose interests are being protected by these messages? And what distinguishes openly acknowledging the risks and dangers of migration from deterrence? Who could make media that strikes the right balance? And what might such a balance look like?
At this interactive panel we will explore these and many other questions with a varied group of experts with both lived and professional experience.
Saturday, 30 November, 12:00(noon) at Upstairs at the Ritzy - panelists include:
Dr Janroj Yilmaz Keles is a Senior Research Fellow in Politics at Middlesex University Law School and a Visiting Fellow at London School of Economics (LSE), researching on migration, diasporas and international relations, social movements and media, and political communication.
Pam Saengathit is an activist and political refugee from Thailand who served as an ambassador for Refugee Week (UK) and works as a campaign volunteer officer at Student Action for Refugees (STAR).
Abby Meadows was the coordinator for Refugee Info Bus in Northern France. She is a researcher for Refugee Rights Europe. She has written about migration for Novara Media and in an academic capacity. Next year she will lecture at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine on global politics, with a focus on the contemporary refugee crisis in Europe and her specialist subject, New Humanitarianism.
Daniel Trilling is a London-based journalist and author. His new book 'Lights in the Distance: Exile and Refuge at the Borders of Europe' is based on five years of reporting on people who come to Europe in search of asylum.
Rebecca Gang is the Protection Advisor at Signpost and Senior Technical Advisor at International Rescue Committee. Rebecca has worked in numerous roles focussing on the the rule of law and refugee protection in Afghanistan, Uganda, Pakistan and the USA.
Transit + Golden Boat
Transit (feature) In today’s France, Germans are hunted by the police and brutally arrested. Georg manages to flee Paris, and to secure an escape to Mexico. While he is waiting for his time to leave, he is confined to the corridors of a small hotel, the consulates, cafés and bars that line the harbour. Everything changes when Georg falls in love with the mysterious Marie. A metaphysical mystery about identity - and a dream of something that happened long ago, or something yet to come…
Golden Boat (short): Inside a derelict warehouse in the middle of a salt pan, people from around the world are waiting to be taken to a mysterious place that promises a better life.
Saturday 30 November, 4.30pm at Genesis Cinema
Ramen Shop
Ramen Shop (feature): Masato, a young ramen chef, leaves his hometown in Japan to embark on a culinary journey to Singapore to find out the truth about his past. And in doing so he uncovers a lot more than family secrets and delicious recipes.
Lord Falafel (short): This is Muhammad Alhussein's story. A story about what matters most in life: freedom, family, finding a new home - and food.
Saturday 30 November, 7:00pm at Genesis Cinema
Music & Movement: The Scorpios
A night to boogie and to network!
Hailing from Central Sudan and now based in London after fleeing the fundamentalist takeover in that region, the Scorpios meld Arabic rhythms and guitar chops (and a kind of swooning cyclical ecstasy) with a raw Eastern funk feel, properly dismantling cultural barriers in pursuit of a unifying rhythmic bliss. Heavy bass, synths, horns and percussions drive through traditional Sudanese forms to create a sound that owes as much to Detroit as it do to Khartoum.
They will be followed by DJ Mo’min Swaitat, who will be spinning some vintage vinyls from across Egypt, Syria, Palestine and North Africa.
Saturday 30 November, 8:30pm at Upstairs at the Ritzy
Boy and the World
(for children)
One boy lives a life of quiet wonder, exploring all that the countryside has to offer. But his cozy life is shattered when his father leaves for the city, prompting him to embark on a quest to reunite his family. The young boy’s journey unfolds like a tapestry, the animation taking on greater complexity and variety as his small world expands.
This stunningly animated film depicts a clash between village and city, hand crafted and mechanised, rich and poor - and throughout the tumult, the heart and soul of the people beats on as a song.
Suitable for children ages 5 and up
Sunday 1 December, 12:00(noon) at Upstairs at the Ritzy
The Flood + Rosso + Terra
The Flood (feature): Wendy, a hardened ‘Home Office’ caseworker, is offered a high-profile asylum case based on her ability to quickly and clinically reject applicants. Through her interview, she must uncover whether Haile is lying and has a more sinister reason for seeking asylum. We follow Haile on his perilous 5,000km journey over oceans, across borders, and amidst the flurry of the Calais Jungle to seek safety in the UK.
Rosso (short): Clemente is an old Sicilian fisherman who goes on working in spite of his late age. His life is disrupted the day he finds a young refugee’s dead body stuck in the fishnets.
Terra (short): A film that suggests sailing to a land of dreams, unfulfilled hopes and promises.
Sunday 1 December, 3.50pm at Genesis Cinema
Some short films about EU (film)
Article 50 (short): A dark comedy that explores how a very "Hard Brexit" indeed could affect personal relationships in the not too distant future.
Human Machine (short): A poetic look into how systematic inequality plays a role in the increase of automation, immigration and nationalism. Focusing on stories from those at the heart of these issues the film explores the connecting and dividing factors between the people on either side of our interlinking stories.
Queen Crocodile (short): Rayna is a Bulgarian prostitute, working in Brussels’ Red Light District. One night, she shares a mystical and sexual moment with an African client, who dies shortly after. But this night will haunt her…
The Dry Valley (short): A portrait of a Romanian village and its inhabitants. For the Roma of Valea Seaca, Northern Europe has become a second home. Many travel regularly across Europe to earn money for their families at home.
Sunday 1 December, 2:00pm at Upstairs at the Ritzy
Freedom of Movement (interactive theatre)
An immersive exploration into the movement of people. Why do we move? How do we move? Where do we move to?
Enter an experimental performance where collectively we will embark on a journey initiated by the changing world around us. Using sound and movement we will feel the push and pull from place to place as we try to find ‘home’.
By Akeim Toussaint Buck
Sunday 1 December, 5.00pm at Upstairs at the Ritzy
Bangla + Q&A
Phaim is a 20something guy living in Rome with his Bengali family. While is mum dreams of moving to London and his sister is planning to get married, Phaim falls in love with a girl from a posh Roman family.
A romantic comedy where the protagonist has to navigate multiple identities and make choices about the kind of person he wants to be.
This event will be presented in collaboration with Cinema Italia UK
Sunday 1 December, 6.30pm at Genesis Cinema
Chez Jolie Coiffure
Enter the Jolie Coiffure hair salon in the Matonge district of Brussels, where charismatic owner Sabine presides over customers' flirting, gossiping, and harrowing tales of immigration. And behind it all, despite having been in Belgium for almost a decade, Sabine herself is still awaiting a decision on her asylum claim.
Monday 2 December, 6.15pm Upstairs at the Ritzy
Border South + Q&A
The filmmaker spent four years following migrant routes from southern Mexico to the US - Mexico border, where years of tightening controls have pushed people onto ever more precarious routes. The result is a close-up, nuanced and highly original view of the migrant experience, one fraught with risk and danger but also camaraderie, ingenuity and humour.
Monday 2 December, 7:00pm at SOAS (Khailili Lecture Theatre) - Q&A with:
Dr Paolo Novak is a Lecture in Development Studies at SOAS specialising in the conceptual and contextual relation between borders, migration and development. Much of his work focuses on the contested geographies produced by such relations and the processes of legal and institutional change associated with them.
Dr Alejandra Díaz De León is a Research Officer in the Sociology Department for the project Human Rights, Human Remains: Forensic Humanitarianism and the Politics of the Grave at LSE. She previously worked with Jason De León and the Undocumented Migration Project.
The Farewell + Q&A
Billi, a young woman living in New York who moved to America from China with her parents when she was a child. Her family returns to China under the guise of a fake wedding to stealthily say goodbye to their beloved matriarch -- the only person that doesn't know she only has a few weeks to live.
Monday 2 December, 6.30pm at Genesis Cinema
Lingua Franca + Q&A
Olivia, an undocumented Filipino transwoman, works as a caregiver to Olga, an elderly Russian woman, in Brooklyn. When Olivia runs out of options to attain legal status in the US, she becomes romantically involved with Alex, Olga's adult grandson, in the pursuit of a marriage-based green card.
Tuesday 3 December, 6.30 at The Lexi Cinema - Q&A with:
Sophie Chamas Senior Teaching Fellow at SOAS
Raphaella O’Hara is a transwoman originally from Brazil living in Birmingham. She is seeking asylum in the UK and has been living here for the past 5 years.
Siobhan McGuirk is a postdoctoral researcher in Anthropology at Goldsmiths University of London. Her research focuses on gender and sexuality, migration, NGOs and state power.
Claire Fletcher currently works as of the asylum support workers at UK Lesbian & Gay Immigration Group.
Midnight Traveler + Q&A
When the Taliban puts a bounty on Afghan director Hassan Fazili’s head, he is forced to flee with his wife and two young daughters. Entirely filmed using just two mobile phone, the film captures the uncertain journey that over the course of three years takes the family from Tajikistan to Europe. In his film Fazili shows firsthand the dangers facing refugees seeking asylum and the love shared between a family on the run.
Tuesday 3 December, 6.30pm at Genesis Cinema - Q&A with:
Almir Koldzic is the Co-Founder and Co-Director of Counterpoints Arts, whose aim is to support and produce the arts by and about migrants and refugees.
Anna Vallianatou is a lawyer active in the field of asylum and migration. Before joining the AIRE Centre in London, a legal charity specialising in the protection of individual rights -- espacially those of refugees and migrants, she has worked for years as an attorney in Belgium and in her country of origin, Greece.
Alexandra Chen is a child protection and mental health specialist from Hong Kong working with refugees in conflict and post-conflict zones.
Congo Calling + Q&A
In crisis-ridden Goma, in eastern Congo, three Europeans are forced to question their roles as charity workers, researchers and members of a community. Deeply personal insights into coexistence and cooperation between Europe and Africa – and the question: how helpful is the help of the Global North?
Tuesday 3 December, 7:00pm at SOAS (Khailili Lecture Theatre) - Q&A with:
Stephan Hilpert is the director of Congo Calling. He is film director based in Berlin/Germany and London/UK and he previously did a PhD thesis on film at the University of Cambridge.
Alex Knott is a Co-director of Omprakash - an organisation promoting ethical global engagement.
Dr Tania Kaiser is a Senior Lecturer in Forced Migration Studies at SOAS where she focuses on protracted refugee situations, violence, conflict, humanitarian protection and assistance, and film.
Farming + Q&A
Based on his own life story, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje's ‘Farming’ charts the extraordinary journey of Enitan, a young Nigerian boy fostered, or ‘farmed out’ in 1980s Essex. Caught between two worlds and belonging to neither, Enitan’s need for love and acceptance is exploited by the adults in his life, transforming a sweet boy into a teenage menace, allowing him to be drawn into the very skinhead gang that abused him.
Wednesday 4 December, 6.20pm at The Lexi Cinema - Q&A with:
Kunle Olulode Director at BME charity Voice4Change England
Pavan Bivigou is a writer from London. Her writing has been featured in Sight and Sound Magazine, This Recording, The New Inquiry and more.
Omar Khan is Runnymede’s Director, and has spoken widely in the UK and internationally on race equality.
Anuradha Henriques is editor-in-chief for Skin Deep, a creative powerhouse redefining culture, amplifying voices of colour through discussions of race, politics and activism
Anbessa + Q&A
Ten year old Asalif and his mother have been displaced from their farmland on the outskirts of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, by the construction of condominiums. Asalif uses his most fantastic and most powerful persona to stand up to his country’s dream of “progress”. But finally he must find his strength as a boy, and shed his persona, in order to deal with the tides of change and violence that are usurping in his community, his country, and his own identity.
This film is presented in collaboration with Bertha DocHouse
Wednesday 4 December, 6.30pm at Curzon Bloomsbury - Q&A with:
Professor Laura Hammond is is an anthropologist who focuses on food security, conflict, forced migration and diasporas particularly in Ethiopia and Somalia/Somaliland.
Professor Loretta Lees is an urban geographer and international expert on gentrification.
Javie Huxley (@javhux) is a British-Chilean illustrator based in London, also a campaigner and trustee for Save Latin Village. Javie's main focus is on editorial illustration for magazines where she uses art as advocacy, to explore themes such as identity, race and social justice.