At the occasion of the International Migrant's Day and its 65th anniversary International Organization for Migration (IOM) organized the first Global Migration Film Festival that was held at Kino Lumière in Bratislava on 15 December 2016.

Apart from Slovakia, the festival was held in December 2016 in nearly 90 countries worldwide. It brought to Slovak audience real stories of migrants during their arduous journeys for a new life – on their migration in Africa, en route to Europe and on life of migrants in Europe.

Film festival opening, 15 December 2016, Kino Lumière in Bratislava

Introduction of the Global Migration Film Festival: https://social.shorthand.com/UNmigration/32JUgzeJ66/5-to-18-december

The festival’s format is unique – IOM has secured screening rights and provided menu of films from which IOM missions selected films for festivals in their countries.

IOM festival films in Slovakia:

The Invisible City [Kakuma]

How to build a home in a place called nowhere? Kakuma refugee camp, built in the middle of the Turkana desert, Kenya, is the fastest growing city in the region. The film depicts life in this refugee camp, many of its new arrivals are children sent out of conflict zones by their parents. Against all odds, these children grab all opportunities in the camp to rebuild their life. Can Kakuma really offer a future? Or is it just a temporary waiting room, where the only option is to plan your journey to Europe?

Watch the trailer.

Wallah – Je te jure

This documentary portrays different stories of West African migrants, men and women, travelling along migration routes and undergoing perilous journey from Africa to Italy. Senegal's rural villages, Niger's bus stations and "ghettos" full of traffickers, Italian squares and houses are the backdrops of these courageous trips, which often end in tragedy. No matter the cost, the goal to reach Europe will be achieved, "Wallah." But there are those who, tired from the journey, turn back home.

Watch the trailer.

Limbo

A documentary that explores the lives of West African migrants who after risking their lives to escape injustice and pursue a better life in Europe, are trapped in a web of Italian bureaucracy. Now living in the small town of Monteroduni they found themselves in limbo – in prolonged conditions of uncertainty and oblivion. They face a system unprepared to accommodate their needs and prejudice from some Italians around them as they try to integrate.

Watch the trailer.

IOM’s Film Festival is part of the United Nation's Together global campaign to promote diversity and inclusion and aims to change perceptions and attitudes towards refugees and migrants.