Film To Heal The World: COVID-19 Fundraising Through A 10-Day Online Global Film Festival

When the doors to my home don’t open outwards... I will try not to use my Netflix addiction to deflect from the growing despair in my mind

I will, however, participate in a global film festival that doubles up as a COVID-19 fundraiser and do my bit in this fight against the Coronavirus pandemic.

This is my attempt at poetry, perhaps out of excitement for the number of virtual concerts and festivals lined up in the coming months. If you knew what I know, you’d probably turn into a poet and dole out much better poetry than I did above.

Cinema has the power to inspire and unite people across borders to help heal the world. Looking at the current grim scenario, as we trudge through a global pandemic, all of us could use some healing.

Whether you are a film buff or just a newcomer into the film world, film festivals are the perfect gateway in order to understand world cinema and its impact on people.

On 27 April, Tribeca Enterprises and YouTube jointly announced the We Are One: A Global Film Festival, a groundbreaking 10-day global digital film festival exclusively on YouTube, bringing together an international community of storytellers to present festival programming for free to audiences around the world.

The festival will feature programming curated by the Berlin International Film Festival, BFI London Film Festival, Cannes Film Festival, Guadalajara International Film Festival, International Film Festival & Awards Macao (IFFAM), Mumbai Film Festival (MAMI), Marrakech International Film Festival, New York Film Festival, Sarajevo Film Festival, Sundance Film Festival, Sydney Film Festival, Tokyo International Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, Tribeca Film Festival, Venice Film Festival, and other prominent institutes.

India’s entry to the global programme is through the Mumbai Film Festival or MAMI which will feature Indian filmmakers and their poignant films in the 10-day film festival.

The four films (two features and two shorts) that are part of the Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival’s programming for We Are One is: Arun Karthick’s Nasir, Prateek Vats’ Eeb Allay Ooo!, Atul Mongia’s Awake and Shaan Vyas’ Natkhat.

You may read the full press release here.

We Are One: A Global Film Festival will run from May 29 - June 7 on YouTube. Programming will be available for free and will include films, shorts, documentaries, music, comedy, and conversations. The complete schedule will be available closer to the festival start date.

All funds raised during the festival will benefit COVID-19 relief funds.

You may visit their official website for more information.

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