BORDER CROSSING CHILDREN’S FILM FESTIVAL presents screenings for children/families at the official refugee reception centers at the Polish/Hungarian/Ukrainian border.
CIRCUIT is proud to partner with Berlin-based programmer Experiment 120 to present works by Aotearoa artists Kate Woods, Denise Batchelor, Jill Kennedy in this important festival.
Statement of the festival on their Facebook page (March 30th 2022):
“Many families – mainly mothers and their children- are currently waiting in line at the Polish-Ukrainian Medyka border for 24-60 hours at a time. Once they cross, they have to wait further for transport, find accommodation, and start looking for work. The current flux of refugees crossing over into Poland averages at roughly 50 000 refugees a day.
Hence the BORDER CROSSING CHILDREN’S FILM FESTIVAL, launched by Bianca Lucas and Weronika Jurkiewicz on March 2nd, 2022 – as a response to Russia’s official, full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In its first phase, the initiative sets out to hold screenings for children/families at the official reception center at the MEDYKA border, at a reception center in the transit town of PRZEMYŚL, and at Amondo Kino in WARSAW, where many refugee families will eventually make their way.
BCCFF sets out to render refugee families’ crossing and reception into Poland a little less arduous. We believe in the power of cinema, which can give children a crucial moment of light through the trauma, and the mothers a moment to breathe. Our event caters to EVERYONE victimized by conflict and expelled from their home and country of origin. We strongly believe in integration and exchange as a means to ease the trauma of displacement.”
