The fourth Global Migration Film Festival portrayed the challenges and promises of migration, and the unique contributions migrants make to their new communities. Films that tackle negative perceptions of migrants, defy stereotypes and portray positive and welcoming actions by and toward migrants were encouraged. 

A committee of international professionals determined the Official Selection across two categories as follows: 

  • Full-length features: filmmakers working in all genres are invited to submit films that address festival themes, with a total running time exceeding 41 minutes. 
  • Short Films: filmmakers working in all genres are invited to submit films that address festival themes, with a total running time with a minimum of 15 minutes up to 40 minutes. 
Official Selection
Feature Films

Short Films

Jury

Feature Film Category

  • Julia Ormond
    The Emmy-award winning British actress and activist Julia Ormond was the first UNODC Goodwill Ambassador Against Trafficking and Slavery and is the Founder ofAlliance to Stop Slavery and End Trafficking (ASSET). ASSET is the source of the Transparency in Supply Chains Law, that requires companies to disclose efforts to eradicate trafficking and slavery in their supply chains. Among her film work, Julia starred in Legends of the Fall, Sabrina, and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. She is Founding Chair of FilmAid International and Executive Produced Emmy-awardwinning "Calling the Ghosts: A Story of Rape, War and Women" and Executive Produced the more  the more recent Documentary “Ghost Fleetb.
     
  • Asser Yassin. 
    Asser Yassin is an Egyptian film and television actor, witer and producer. With a Degree in Mechanical Engineering, Asser chose to follow his true calling and passion and pursue a career in acting. Asser has received many distinguished awards as best actor from Festival International Cinema Mediterranean Tetouan in 2015, Malmo Arab Film Festival in 2011, and Carthage Film Festival in 2010. Aside from his acting career, Asser has also stepped behind the camera to direct Music Videos for some of the top Local acts/ performers in Egypt. Earlier this year, Asser Yassin has been appointed as goodwill ambassador for IOM.
     
  • Florence Kim
    Florence Kim has led IOM's #IAmAMigrant perception change campaign since its launch in 2015. dhas led IOM's #IAmAMigrant perception change campaign since its launch in 2015. In an effort to highlight the work done in support of migrants, she has collected hundreds of personal testimonies from migrants around the world. After obtaining a PhD in International Law and working as a freelance journalist for ELLE magazine and newspapers, she is now based in Senegal where she is in charge of communications and media relations IOM’s Regional Office in West and Central Africa.

Short Film Category

  • Fatou Kandé Senghor
    Fatou Kandé Senghor is an award-winning visual artist, documentary filmmaker and educator based in Dakar, Senegal. Through a skillful combination of photography, film, writing and public installations, Fatou intimately explores delicate concepts surrounding identity, gender, culture and social injustices in her home country. In her most recent work, she focuses her lens on the irony of the gap between well-meant biodiversity protection schemes and their drastic repercussions on vulnerable local communities, often pushed away from their homes as a result.
     
  • Amelia Hanibelsz
    Amelia is a two-time Primetime Emmy-nominated, Genesis Award-winning producer-director.Over two decades, Amelia has developed, pitched, produced, and directed award-winning content for Discovery, National Geographic, Animal Planet, The History Channel, A&E, amongst others in Singapore, Sri Lanka, and New York.She founded Tell2C Productions in 2013. Since then, she has collaborated with FilmAid and the talented filmmakers of Kakuma refugee camp. She has worked with UNICEF, ActionAid, and the United Nations to create compelling advocacy films viewed globally.
     
  • Sherif Elbendary
    Sherif Elbendary is an Egyptian film director based in Cairo, he directed short films, documentaries, and the feature film “Ali, the Goat and Ibrahim”, which were well received in several film festivals including Tribeca and Cannes. He is a Berlinale Talents alumnus 2007. Elbendary has served on juries for such film festivals as Cairo International Film Festival, El Gouna Film Festival. Recently, he founded “Africa Films”, a film production company mainly focused on shorts and features of upcoming directors. He is currently working on his second feature, “Spray”.
     
  • Luca Lamorte
    As the UN Migration Agency’s Social Media Officer, Luca Lamorte oversees the Organization’s global digital strategy. Raised in Italy, Luca has a PhD in International History and Politics from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, Switzerland. He has been a movie addict for as long as he can remember and won several awards in his early twenties as a director, before pursuing a career as a civil servant.