The LIDF27 will take place in November 2027 and feature the usual mix of great films and post-film discussions alongside director masterclasses and workshops. The Call for Films is open now. We are looking for the best short and feature length documentaries from around the globe.

The LIDF is delighted to be partnering with the Alexandria Green Film Festival (AGFF). The AGFF aims to foster the concept of green cinema production between the UK and Egypt, with a focus on environmental challenges and disparities between the Global North and South. This partnership will establish a reciprocal, cross-cultural partnership between our two organisations, centred around the intersection of cinema, environmental, and social justice. Our objective is to co-develop the capacities of emerging filmmakers in both countries in green cinema production, environmental filmmaking, and activism as tools to address environmental and social justice.

Due to ongoing Covid concerns the 2021 festival will take place on-line. This will result in a slight delay. In partnership with Filmocracy we will provide an on-line platform of live screening from the 27th to 30th January and an additional two weeks of on demand viewing. Details of how to sign in and buy tickets will follow.

The winners of the LIDF 2019 are:

Best Film: Maelstrom
Misja Pekel | 2019 | Netherlands | 45min

Best Short Film: Dead Women’s Pass
Alexander Houghton | 2019 | Peru | 26min

Film has a unique capacity to reveal the personal, anonymous, and collective routines of daily life in cities. This workshop is a mixture of theory and practice with special emphasis on new migration/refugees, urban studies, cityscapes. The workshop will produce 10 short films. The films produced by the workshop will be screened by the LIDF, SOAS and the University of London Institute in Paris.

During the workshop students will learn to apply the basic principles and tools of documentary film making to research/project needs. The initiative will be mirrored by a similar workshop in Paris and the end products will be exchanged between the two cities.

This is an experimental course. It aims to examine how ‘thinking’ with, and ‘through’, images can produce insight with regard to certain anthropological and sociological questions. In the process deepening the medium’s analytical power and enhancing its audience reception. To this end we will examine how a range of media may be utilised to produce rich insights and creatively satisfying outcomes. Together we will develop short narratives about contemporary London. Great emphasis will be placed throughout on teamwork, and critical feedback.

The core objective of this project is to explore in an inter-disciplinary manner various new, cheap and easily accessible visual technologies as tools for urban research and teaching in urban studies. We choose film as a tool because it has a unique capacity to reveal the personal, anonymous, and collective routines of daily life in cities.

We will focus on the experiences and impact of refugees and new immigration: How has London changed its looks and appearances, how have refugees and new migration altered everyday life in (some parts of) the city, how do refugees and new migrants live, work, and move in and through the city, and what is their own experience and perception of living in a global city like London?

Through the documentary workshop we want to explore the idea that there are different (but also similar and overlapping) parallel ‘Londons’: immigrants inhabit and imagine London in their own manner, creating specific networks and mental maps of the city, and interacting with other Londoners in culturally specific ways.

Aims

To provide an overview of documentary theory and practice, while involved in telling a contemporary London story through film. The challenge will be to see how film enriches and provides research insights, while at the same time creating new ways of experiencing that research.

Key films and key texts will be viewed and discussed. The course is innovative in its ambition to explore the documentary and research possibilities of new, ‘democratising’ and affordable visual technologies. The course will explore the importance and relevance of these technologies for filmmaking and research in urban environments.

Venue: SOAS, London

Dates: 12th October to 23rd November with screenings at the end of November

Norwegian Refugee Council/London International Documentary Festival and SOAS jointly host a one day workshop on:

Visualising Compelling and Powerful Messages on Refugees and Displacement through Short Impact Documentaries

Context

Based on figures released in June 2018 by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), by the end of 2017, an unprecedented 68.5 million have forcibly left their homes with at least 25.4 million having left their country of birth and therefore considered refugees. Over recent years, the ongoing refugee crisis in Europe has, in particular, generated attention among the public and in general, sources of information are predominantly derived from local and national media and campaigns. There are many displacement situations around the world that receive more coverage and awareness than others. In addition, protracted displacement which involves those who have sought refuge in host countries for decades can slip off the list of attention and become neglected.

NGOs and other international organisations involved in providing response and services to refugees and displaced populations are increasingly turning to visual products to bring the issues to the forefront, promote their work and share powerful and compelling messages across to various target audiences on a wide scale.  However, the direct voices of refugees themselves are not always easily or readily accessible often enough.

This challenge is recognised by organisations involved, particularly those on the ground who are in regular contact with displaced populations.  They witness first-hand the hardships refugees endure as well as the heartwarming, success stories encountered.  Such content needs to be developed into engaging visual products for widespread awareness raising among the general public, influencers, decision and policy makers.  Acknowledgment of this fact has therefore further raised demand for video and film production within the humanitarian and development sector.

At the same time, it is crucial to consider that film production can be highly costly and time intensive. Therefore engagement with and commissioning documentary producers and film makers requires well-thought through planning with a clear pathway from A to Z of the processes.  Sharp and key messages need to be adequately – and powerfully – translated onto the screen and into the hearts and minds of their audiences. New technology and democratised access to digital media have also impacted strategies that seek to heighten global awareness of refugee related issues. Such tools are integral to efforts seeking to inspire empathy, political engagement, social activism, donor funding and charitable giving.

Documentary film production for humanitarian and development actors therefore consists of two main objectives:

It can educate and raise awareness like few other forms of media, also serving as an evidence-based resource.

Through targeted content creation and messaging – in both feature and short films – and through the high viewership  it seeks to reach, it significantly contributes towards mobilising engagement, empathy and understanding as well as grassroots influence towards inspiring changes in perception and action.

The one day workshop will address the following issues:

• Refugees in host countries; with a focus on Afghan refugees in Iran
• Working with children – ethics, protection risks and security
• Social impact documentary films
• The working relationship between NGOs and filmmakers
• Strategic planning and outreach for audience engagement
• Impact measurement and empirical analysis

Objectives

1. Raising awareness of key stakeholders – policy makers; donors and other actors from the humanitarian and development sector and the general public in the UK about:

• The critical importance of providing essential services such as access to education for displaced children and best practice examples;
• Voices from the displaced.

2. Enabling exchanges and discussions on the role of visualisation tools – such as video production that organisations can use to share information on the plight of refugees (how it can enable organisations to bring displaced/refugees’ voices to the forefront).

3. Examine experiences and best practice for ‘impact documentaries’ with particular attention to strategic planning, social media strategy, and impact assessment.

Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC)

The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) is an independent humanitarian organisation helping people forced to flee.  With headquarters in Oslo, Norway they work in 32 countries where they help save lives and rebuild futures.  NRC has been present in Iran since 2012 and implements projects in nine provinces.  Through their solid technical expertise and specific sectorial knowledge in education, shelter, water, sanitation and hygiene, information, counselling and legal assistance, livelihoods and food security, they provide assistance to an increasing number of displaced Afghans in Iran and their host communities.  In 2018, their projects reached 74,834 individuals.

At Soho House, Barcelona

Born in Gambia, dir. Natxo Leuza (27 min)
Ebrahim, dir. Elliott Mckee (28 min)

In the first of a series of events the LIDF, together with Spanish artist Mikel Belascoain, have curated a short festival of documentaries and debates on the theme of refugees. The festival will take place in Pamplona, Spain, from the 7th February to the 8th February.

Programme

Thursday 7th – 19:00 – 21:00

Born in Gambia | Natxo Leuza | 2018 | Spain | 27 min
Love | Raul de la Fuente | 2018 | Spain | 30 min
Access to Education for Afghan Children in Iran | Zohreh Arsanjoon | 2018 | Iran/Norway/Germany | 15min

Friday 8th – 19:00 -21:00

Ebrahim | Elliott McKee | 2018 | Germany/New Zealand | 28min
Calais Children | Sue Clayton | 2017 | United Kingdom | 60 min
Sea Angels | Simone Gandolfo | 2018 | Italy | 25min

Run in conjunction with our new partner SOAS the workshop is designed to be a mixture of theory and practice with special emphasis on refugees, urban theory, cityscapes, and new migration. The workshop will produce 10 short films. During the workshop students will learn to apply the basic principles and tools of documentary film making to research/project needs.

This is an experimental course. It aims to examine how ‘thinking’ with, and ‘through’, images can produce insight with regard to certain anthropological and sociological questions. In the process deepening the medium’s analytical power and enhancing its audience reception. To this end we will examine how a range of media may be utilised to produce rich insights and creatively satisfying outcomes. Together we will develop short narratives about contemporary London. Great emphasis will be placed throughout on teamwork, and critical feedback.

For more info: https://www.soas.ac.uk/anthropology/london-in-motion

Run in conjunction with our new partner SOAS the workshop is designed to be a mixture of theory and practice with special emphasis on refugees, urban theory, cityscapes, and new migration. The workshop will produce 10 short films. During the workshop students will learn to apply the basic principles and tools of documentary film making to research/project needs.

This is an experimental course. It aims to examine how ‘thinking’ with, and ‘through’, images can produce insight with regard to certain anthropological and sociological questions. In the process deepening the medium’s analytical power and enhancing its audience reception. To this end we will examine how a range of media may be utilised to produce rich insights and creatively satisfying outcomes. Together we will develop short narratives about contemporary London. Great emphasis will be placed throughout on teamwork, and critical feedback.

For more info: https://www.soas.ac.uk/anthropology/london-in-motion