At the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR), Cate Blanchett took center stage as the first five films supported by the Displacement Film Fund premiered to global audiences. The short films—created by directors from Iran, Syria, Afghanistan, Somalia, and Ukraine—each received grants of €100,000 ($120,000) through the initiative launched last year by Blanchett in partnership with IFFR’s Hubert Bals Fund.
The Dutch port city played host to world premieres from an extraordinary group of filmmakers: Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof (The Seed of the Sacred Fig), Ukrainian filmmaker Maryna Er Gorbach (Klondike), Somali-Austrian director Mo Harawe (The Village Next to Paradise), Afghan filmmaker Shahrbanoo Sadat—now based in Germany and set to open next month’s Berlin Film Festival—and Syrian documentarian Hasan Kattan (Last Men in Aleppo). Alongside Blanchett, the directors gathered for a press conference to discuss both their films and the broader mission of the fund.
During the event, organizers also announced a second round of funding for the Displacement Film Fund. The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) continues as a strategic partner, with Amahoro Coalition, Master Mind, the Tamer Family Foundation, and UNIQLO returning as founding partners. The SP Lohia Foundation joined this year as a new major supporter, expanding the initiative’s reach.
Blanchett described the fund as deeply personal, calling it a “passion project,” and emphasized how varied the films are in tone, style, and perspective. According to the Oscar-winning actor, displacement cannot be reduced to a single narrative. While shared experiences and themes inevitably surface, she said each film reflects the inner world of its creator. Viewed together, the shorts form a powerful mosaic of voices shaped by different histories and realities.
She also linked the importance of these films to the current global climate. Blanchett argued that the world is increasingly detached from truth, noting that truth itself is made up of multiple viewpoints. In that sense, cinema becomes a vital tool—not only for storytelling, but for restoring nuance and empathy.
The films, she added, have the power to challenge stereotypes and misconceptions surrounding displacement, especially amid ongoing conflict, repression, and war. Blanchett warned that beyond physical displacement, societies are also drifting away from their own sense of humanity—a loss these films quietly but forcefully confront.
Looking ahead, Blanchett stressed that the next challenge is distribution. She called for bold distributors and platforms willing to take risks on meaningful, socially engaged cinema, insisting that audiences are more eager for such stories than prevailing political rhetoric might suggest.
Her remarks followed the opening of Rotterdam 2026, where festival director Vanja Kaludjercic issued a strong appeal to safeguard artistic freedom in an era marked by political pressure and cultural uncertainty. Kaludjercic highlighted cinema’s role as a unifying force at a time when repression, violence, and upheaval dominate headlines worldwide.
The press conference itself was held at the Fenix Museum of Migration, a fitting venue dedicated to exploring human movement and migration through art. As momentum builds around the Displacement Film Fund, Blanchett and its collaborators are now focused on ensuring these films reach wider audiences.
“There is far more curiosity and openness out there than we’re often led to believe,” Blanchett said, pushing back against what she described as a constant stream of shallow and xenophobic discourse. For her, the response to the films so far proves that audiences are ready—and willing—to engage with stories that reflect the complex realities of displacement today.
