Cate Blanchett's Displacement Film Fund Sets Five Shorts for Weekly Release With The New Yorker
Five short films backed by Cate Blanchett's Displacement Film Fund will come out week by week on The New Yorker's website and YouTube channel, starting on 9 November. Variety reported the partnership.
The first slate comes from Mohammad Rasoulof, Shahrbanoo Sadat, Mo Harawe, Maryna Er Gorbach and Hasan Kattan. The fund, which supports films about displacement, meaning people forced to leave their homes, gave each project a production grant of 100,000 euros.
The opening release is Kattan's documentary Allies in Exile, made with Fadi Al Halabi. It follows two Syrian journalists whose friendship of 14 years lasted through war and displacement. It premieres on 9 November.
The five films had their world premieres at the International Film Festival Rotterdam earlier this year. They were then shown at the BFI London Film Festival, which marked their UK debut, according to the BFI. Screenings are also set for the São Paulo International Film Festival (Mostra) and the Tokyo International Film Festival.
New York gets an in-person event. The Film Forum will show the slate on 11 November. Cate Blanchett will talk with a New Yorker editor, and Maryna Er Gorbach and Mo Harawe will attend.
The fund has also picked a second group of filmmakers. They include Mohammed Amer, Annemarie Jacir, Akuol de Mabior, Bao Nguyen and Rithy Panh. Their films will premiere at the Rotterdam festival in January.
The fund's founding partners are Master Mind, UNIQLO, Droom en Daad, the Tamer Family Foundation and the Amahoro Coalition. The SP Lohia Foundation joins as a major partner in 2026.
For anyone who has not followed the festival circuit, the route is simple. A film premieres at a major festival, travels to other festivals, then reaches a streaming site or a screen. This slate is taking that path in reverse order of usual: the festival runs came first, and the public release comes now, one short at a time.
