Cate Blanchett has announced the second cohort of recipients for her Displacement Film Fund (DFF) during a press conference at the Cannes Film Festival. The fund supports short films by displaced filmmakers or those telling authentic stories about displacement.
The five selected projects include 'Return to Sender' by Palestinian American comedian Mo Amer, about a Palestinian standup comedian navigating immigration rules on a world tour. Palestinian director Annemarie Jacir will make 'Deconstruction,' inspired by the port city of Haifa and its layers of presence and absence. South Sudanese filmmaker Akuol de Mabior's 'Traces of a Broken Line' explores the impact of war on lineage through a mother's attempt to preserve her heritage.
Vietnamese American filmmaker Bao Nguyen's 'How to Ride a Bike' follows a Vietnamese refugee father learning to ride a bike in secret, confronting a lifelong shame. Cambodian director Rithy Panh's 'Time… Speak' is a biographical work about an exiled filmmaker reconstructing memories of the disappeared through cinema.
Each filmmaker receives a production grant of €100,000 ($116,000). The completed shorts will world premiere at the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) from January 28 to February 28, 2027. The DFF is spearheaded by Blanchett in her role as UNHCR Global Goodwill Ambassador, in partnership with IFFR's Hubert Bals Fund.
Blanchett said the first round of DFF shorts were met with huge enthusiasm and challenged expectations about displacement stories. The fund's founding partners include Amahoro Coalition, Droom en Daad, Master Mind, the Tamer Family Foundation and UNIQLO, with the SP Lohia Foundation joining as a new major partner.
