At the 55th International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) this year was the Displacement Film Fund at the centre. The initiative, which was launched in 2025 at the instigation of Cate Blanchett supports filmmakers who are unable to work in their home country due to war, displacement or political restrictions. The aim of the fund is to give these creatives a voice and make their personal stories accessible to an international audience.
The first round of the fund has already produced five short films, including works by filmmakers from Syria, Ukraine, Somalia, Iran and Afghanistan. The films address themes such as flight, trauma, loss of home and self-determination and impressively show the different perspectives of people in exile. In Hasan Kattan's film Allies in Exile of his escape from the destroyed city of Aleppo, while Shahrbanoo Sadat in Super Afghan Gym humorously and movingly describes the lives of women in a secret training room in Kabul. Mohammad Rasoulof deals in Sense of Water with the question of how an artist can find a new artistic language in a foreign country.
During the presentation of the films, Blanchett emphasised the importance of stories that provide insights into experiences beyond one's own world. She emphasised that each film is unique, but together they paint a diverse picture of displacement and exile that promotes empathy and understanding. The filmmakers themselves also spoke about the personal significance of their projects and how their films reflect questions of identity, home and belonging.
During the press conference, Blanchett announced the Second round of the Displacement Film Fund on. It is once again supported by partners such as MASTER MIND, UNIQLO, the Tamer Family Foundation and the Amahoro Coalition, supplemented by the SP Lohia Foundation. As in the first round, the aim is to support short films that bring the experiences of exiled filmmakers to the screen. The Hubert Bals Fund remains a management partner, while the UNHCR remains a strategic partner in order to emphasise the humanitarian connection.
With the fund, the IFFR is not only creating a Cross-platform funding for exiled filmmakersbut also sets an example for solidarity and humanity in the film world. The initiative shows how film funding can combine social relevance with creative innovation and opens up new opportunities for international talents to tell their stories to a broad audience.