About UNAFF TFF MTL
Yellow Pad Sessions is proud to have been chosen to host the Canadian premiere of the United Nations Association Film Festival, Traveling Festival (UNAFF TFF MTL) on September 21, 2019 at the historic McCord Museum. The aim of UNAFF TFF MTL is to support the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
UNAFF was conceived in 1998 at Stanford University by film critic and educator Jasmina Bojic in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
UNAFF screens documentaries by international filmmakers covering humanitarian and environmental themes. It aims to bring together filmmakers, the academic community and the general public to offer a unique opportunity for exchange and education among groups often separated by geographic, ethnic and economic differences.
The Festival Programme
This one-day film festival will take place at the McCord Museum. Doors to the event open at 9h30.
Movies & Trailers
Get to know the movies: you can watch the trailers and read a short synopsis of each feature film below
Through My Eyes: Hani's Journey
Syria | 2017 | 30 mins | OV English | ST English
Showing: 9h30
Through My Eyes follows the journey of blind Syrian refugee Hani Moulia from the camps in Lebanon to Canada. Told through his photos, it is a story of triumph against adversity, set against the backdrop of the Syria crisis.
Director: Zahra Mackaoui
Soufra
Lebanon | 2017 | 1h 13mins | OV Arabic | ST English
Showing: 10h00
Soufra follows the unlikely and wildly inspirational story of intrepid social entrepreneur, Mariam Shaar – a generational refugee who has spent her entire life in the Burj El Barajneh refugee camp just south of Beirut, Lebanon. The film follows Mariam as she sets out against all odds to change her fate by launching a successful catering company, “Soufra”, and then expand it into a food truck business with a diverse team of fellow refugee woman who now share this camp as their home.
Director: Thomas Morgan
LIYANA
Swaziland | 2017 | 1h 17mins | OV English & Swahili | ST French
Showing: 9h30
LIYANA tells the story of a Swazi girl that embarks on a dangerous quest to rescue her young twin brothers. This animated African tale is born in the imaginations of five orphaned children in Swaziland who collaborate to tell a story of perseverance drawn from their darkest memories and brightest dreams. Their fictional character’s journey is interwoven with poetic and observational documentary scenes to create a genre-defying celebration of collective storytelling.
Director: Aaron Kopp & Amanda Kopp
Demain
France | 2015 | 2h | OV French | ST French
Showing: 14h30
In 2012, Nature published a study led by more than 20 researchers from the top scientific institutions in the world predicting that humankind could disappear between 2040 and 2100. It also said that it could be avoided by drastically changing our way of life and take appropriate measures. French actress and director Mélanie Laurent and activist Cyril Dion decide to travel the world in search of solutions that can help save the next generations. The result is Demain, an inspiring documentary that presents concrete solutions implemented throughout the world by hundreds of communities.
Director: Cyril Dion, Mélanie Laurent