The word "refugee" often comes with negative connotations. The United Nations Refugee Agency is hoping to change this perception with its latest charity film festival.
The 14th Charity Refugee Film Festival, themed "Inclusion," is currently being held online due to the pandemic.
"UNHCR has organized the festival in Hong Kong since 2008 to commemorate World Refugee Day. The event raises public awareness and funds to support UNHCR's life-saving work worldwide. All donations gathered are used to support forcibly displaced people around the globe," said deputy representative of UNHCR China, Vivian Tan.
This year's festival features four documentaries chosen according to different topics the UNHCR wants to highlight: the ongoing Syrian crisis, the Refugee Olympics team that is participating in the Tokyo Olympics and the predicament of LGBTQ refugees and asylum seekers.
"Rather than focusing on the suffering of people forced to flee, the four films featured shed light on the resilience of refugees and other displaced people globally," she said.
Unsettled: Seeking Refuge in America is a documentary about LGBTQ refugees and asylum seekers in the United States.
The movie follows four people, all of whom have fled their own countries due to persecution from authorities and neighbors.
"There was this dissonance really between some of the rights in the West and what was happening - particularly in the Middle East and Africa," said director Tom Shepard.
"We hoped by following four LGBTI refugees and asylum seekers over three or four years that we could maybe humanize that lived experience and that a bigger audience could connect to the lived experiences of refugees."
Shepard explained that, as refugees are typically resettled in families, things are more difficult for LGBTQ refugees. "In most cases, they are not fleeing with their families but from their own families, and much of the persecution that they experience is at the hands of their own father, mother or uncle."
Beyond the Raging Sea takes a different approach by discussing the hardships faced by refugees and asylum seekers. It follows the dangerous journey across the Atlantic Ocean from the Canary Islands to Antigua taken by Omar Samra and Omar Nour, dubbed O2.
Dedicating their journey to the plight of refugees, they bring the audience along on their similarly perilous trip. Many on board the refugee boats do not survive the trip.
"Being also from the Middle East, being from this part of the world, the plight of refugees and the cause is something that's always in the forefront of our minds and imagination," explained Samra.
"We thought that there are some similarities between the journey we're about to embark on and potentially what refugees go through. Obviously, in hindsight, we realize those experiences are vastly different. We came out of it with even more dedication to the cause and more understanding of what's going on."
"We hope the four films will shed light on different facets of the theme 'inclusion' this year and broaden our audience's perspectives on refugee issues," said Tan.
Donate HK$100 to UNHCR to watch one movie, or HK$350 for all four on www.unhcr.org/hk/en/film and gain an access code for streaming. The featured films will be available online until July 6.
