In partnership with the Calgary Justice Film Festival, the Calgary Local Immigration Partnership (CLIP) hosted a Film Festival to raise awareness of the global refugee crisis and encourage Calgarians to support refugees through creating welcoming communities. The Refugees Welcome Here Film Festival took place on Saturday, June 18, from 1:00 - 7:00pm at the Central Library. The event started off with the Children’s hour from 1:00 – 2:00 pm, followed by the Afternoon Event from 2:30 – 4:30 pm and finished off with the evening event from 5:00 – 7:00 pm. Details about each event are listed below.
Children's Hour (1:00 - 2:00pm)
Children’s adaption of The Secret Marathon (2019)
When legendary marathon runner, Martin Parnell, had a life-threatening blood clot he was inspired to recover and run again when he read about the first courageous Afghan woman to participate in a marathon in her own country. He invited young filmmaker, Kate McKenzie to join him in documenting the journey and trained her to run her first ever marathon. Training and preparing in secret to avoid making the race a target for terrorist attack, they journey together to Afghanistan. There they meet several runners along the way, each with their own obstacle to overcome, each determined to support the dream that everyone should be free to run.
Help Them Feel at Home
‘Help Them Feel At Home’, tells the story of a young refugee named Sana and a toy dinosaur named Dino and their difficult journey to find safety in the UK.
Afternoon Event (2:30 - 4:30pm)
Someone Like Me (2021)
'Someone Like me' follows the parallel journeys of Drake, a gay asylum seeker from Uganda, and a group of strangers from Vancouver’s queer community who are tasked with supporting his resettlement in Canada. Together, they embark on a year-long quest for personal freedom, revealing how in a world where one must constantly fight for the right to exist, survival itself becomes a victory.
Evening Event (5:00 - 7:00pm)
The Shoe Project (2022)
Sheila Qayumi
Since the first workshop in 2011, The Shoe Project participants have written over 300 stories and staged 30 performances. One of those participants is Sheila Qayumi, a university lecturer and activist, from Kabul, Afghanistan who shares her story of being evacuated from her home country in August 2021.
The Secret Marathon (2019)
When the first Afghan woman stood up for her freedom and ran in the Marathon of Afghanistan, she started a movement for equality that spread around the world. Zainab’s story inspired legendary marathon runner, Martin Parnell, to imagine what his life might be like if his gender prevented him from going outside to run. Martin vowed to run in the Marathon of Afghanistan the following year to support Zainab, and partnered with filmmaker and first time marathoner, Kate McKenzie, to tell the story. To avoid making the marathon a target for terrorist attack, they must train, and travel to Afghanistan in secret, where they will uncover unexpected beauty, incredible hardships, and the amazing people who stand for change. This is the story of the brave Afghan women who are risking it all for the freedom to run.