Tag: Understanding

Refugee Week takes place every year across the world in the week around World Refugee Day on the 20 June. In the UK, Refugee Week is coordinated by Counterpoint Arts and is an umbrella festival with a nationwide programme of arts, cultural and educational events that celebrate the contribution, creativity and resilience of refugees, and encourages a better understanding between communities.

Refugee Week began in 1998 in response to hostility in the media and society towards refugees and asylum seekers. It is is now one of the leading initiatives working to counter this negative climate, defending the importance of sanctuary and the benefits it can bring to both refugees and host communities.

Anyone can take part in this open platform by holding relevant events or activities of all kinds.

Some of the aims of Refugee Week are to:

• Celebrate the contributions of refugees and people seeking sanctuary.
• Challenge negative stereotypes and create a space where refugees can be seen and heard beyond their experience of displacement.
• Celebrate the contributions of everyone seeking safety, regardless of the legal status they hold.
• Create a space for many stories where people who have experienced displacement can express themselves on their own terms.
• Promote that the safety of each of us matters to all of us, and to come together around shared values of fairness, mutual support, kindness and respect for universal rights.
• Provide an open platform and which welcomes a wide range of responses suited to many different contexts, which are inclusive and remove barriers to participation.
• Create change through arts and culture to help us see migration and displacement differently.
• Involve people with lived experience of displacement in the planning and leadership of initiatives about refugee experiences.
• Recognise that refugees and asylum seekers are not a single group and have different experiences, including because of race, class, gender, sexuality, age and immigration status.
• Promote the right to safety – everyone deserves a home and has the right to seek safety for themselves and their families.

Find our more about the values and shared principles of Refugee Week here.

Cinema and Refugee Week

One of the eight Simple Act as part of Refugee Week is to watch a film. Simple Acts are everyday actions we can all do to stand with refugees and make new connections in our communities.

Counterpoints Arts have partnered with Other Cinemas in 2024 on a collaborative film programme, with feature films and shorts which can be screened at home or for a community screening. 

For even more films, take a look at the British Film Institute’s Refugee Week collection on BFI player.

Cinema

Refugee Week invites you to run an event and can support you to do this. If you have an idea for an event (online or in venue) or activity you’d like to run for Refugee Week, take a look at their event organiser pack.

Below are more guides and organisations who organise events which you can support, as well as case studies and platforms to watch relevant films on.

Organisations

Refugee Action has spent 35 years helping refugees build safe, hopeful and productive new lives in the UK.

In Place of War has worked with creative communities in some of the most challenging contexts in the world. It is a support system for community artistic, creative and cultural organisations in places of conflict, revolution and areas suffering the consequences of conflict.

Regional Refugee Forum North East is the independent membership organisation created by and for the North East region’s Refugee-led Community Organisations (RCOs), enabling them to unite and produce their Collective Voice and empowering them to be active agents in change.

Women for Refugee Women challenges the injustices experienced by women who seek asylum in the UK.

The Refugee Council is one of the leading charities in the UK working directly with refugees, and supporting them to rebuild their lives.

Stats

• In the UK, 87% of people are White, and 13% belong to a Black, Asian, Mixed or Other ethnic group.
• Asian people, at 59%, were significantly less likely to take part in the arts than White people (including White ethnic minorities), at 78%, or Black people, at 70%^[1]
• Black people are three times as likely to be arrested as white people
• People of white British and Indian backgrounds are more likely than other minorities to be homeowners
• Among poorer children, those of BME backgrounds have higher attainment levels than white pupils^[2]
• Only 1 in 16 of current FTSE 100 board members is from a Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) background.
• 1 in 8 employees in the UK are from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic groups.^[3]
• Diverse audiences tend to be heavier film consumers compared to the national average, especially Eastern Europeans (31% are “heavy” film consumers compared to 12% for the national average)
• Asian, Black, Eastern European and LGB audiences attend the cinema much more frequently than the national average (all over 30% for “very regular” compared to 14% for the national average)
• These audiences also have an above-average affinity for cinema, with over 1 in 2 Black, Eastern European and LGB audiences saying cinema remains the best place to watch film – even higher (3 in 5) for the Asian audience
• 7 in 10 of the general public say it is important for some films to portray real life issues facing our communities – our diverse audiences tend to think this even more important (e.g. 88% of the Black audience)
• Diverse audiences are also more likely to think it important that they can see stories, characters and settings to which they can personally relate – for example, 65% of the working class audience say it is important to see their own stories authentically reflected in the films they watch
• 67% of the general public say the portrayal of our nation’s diverse audiences has become more authentic over the last ten years – and this view is largely shared by diverse audiences
• However, when asked about the amount of work needed to be more authentic: 19% of the general public perceived “a great deal” more work needs to be done, comparing to 43% for the Asian audience and 58% of the Black audience
• The following are the proportions from diverse audiences who say they would watch more films if people from diverse backgrounds were portrayed more authentically: 59% of the Asian audience, 66% of the Black audience, 54% of the Eastern European audience^[4]

^[1]Ethnicity Facts & Figures, GOV.UK
^[2]The Guardian, Huge effect of ethnicity on life chances revealed in official UK figures
^[3]Diversity in the UK
^[4]Portrayal V Betrayal: an investigation of diverse and mainstream UK film audiences, 2011

Organisations

Diversity UK is a think tank to research, advocate and promote new ideas for improving diversity and inclusion in Britain. 

UK-BAME represents the diverse collective interests of the UK’s Black, Asians and Minority Ethnic communities who expressed interest or require assistance in developing businesses, community groups, lifestyles, and careers.

Refugee Action has spent 35 years helping refugees build safe, hopeful and productive new lives in the UK.

The British Blacklist offers reviews, news and social analysis striving to bring a voice to burgeoning talent, which rarely receive any visibility. Featuring an extensive database of African Caribbean British creative talent with a strong features-driven core.

The New Black Film Collective is network of film exhibitors, educators and programmers spread across the regions in the UK. As part of our range of services, we host screenings that matter to the local community featuring international and domestic films of black representation. 

Come the Revolution is a collective of curators, programmers and creatives from Bristol & Birmingham committed to exploring and challenging black life, experience and cultural expression through cinema.

We Are Parable believe in the power of events. They want to make events that leave a legacy and produce memories that last.

Birmingham Indian Film Festival – BIFF – brings you the best new Indian & South Asian independent cinema, with a rare window into a billion South Asian lives.

Gentle/Radical is a grassroots cultural organisation and platform for radical thinking, creative practice and social change.

In Place of War has worked with creative communities in some of the most challenging context in the world. In Place of War is a support system for community artistic, creative and cultural organisations in places of conflict, revolution and areas suffering the consequences of conflict.

Afrika Eye Film Festival, held annually in Bristol, is the South West’s biggest celebration of African cinema and culture. Our Festival brings films and diverse perspectives on Africa and the African diaspora to growing audiences in Bristol and the South West.

Desi Blitz is a digital magazine based in Birmingham, England. It’s the leading online magazine for British Asian communities in the UK.