Refugee Week - Film Festival (Pay What You Can)

Join us at Poplar Union for a free community film screening as part of Refugee Week 2026, this year themed COURAGE.

We're showing a curated selection of short films exploring themes of displacement, migration, belonging and community — powerful stories from around the world, brought to East London for one evening.

The film selection:

HAYAT (2019) dir. Rendah Haj

Running time 14 mins. Cert: U

Rahma, an Eritrean migrant living in Australia, faces isolation and daily struggles as she works to keep her four young children connected to their cultural roots while building a new life far from home.

TSKALTUBO (2023) (tskahll-TOO-boh) dir. Toby Andris. Cert: U

Running time 24 mins

After 30 years living as refugees in an abandoned sanatorium, Irakli and Nana are finally offered a new apartment. But as the possibility of change arrives, they must confront whether it is too late to begin again.

INFANCIA DESTERRADA (2022) dir. Alberto Arnaut Estrada & Diego Rabasa

Running time 16 mins. Cert: 12+

Each year, thousands of children are forced to flee their countries alone, escaping violence with only what they can carry. This moving documentary sheds light on their journeys, resilience, and the urgent realities they face.

AZIZA (2019) dir. Soudade Kaadan

Running time 13 mins. Cert: PG

Ayman, a Syrian refugee in Lebanon, teaches his wife how to drive—their car being the last remaining piece of home. What begins as a simple lesson transforms into a surreal and emotional journey through memory, longing, and displacement.