From October 21–24, 2021, UNICEF Innocenti will host the second UNICEF Innocenti Film Festival (UIFF) to showcase “narratives of childhood from around the world.” UIFF will feature films that “promote deep reflection on the experiences that shape childhood —  within the individual, in the family, the community, in institutions and societies, of both the Global South and North.” The final program will be released soon. 

The hybrid film festival will feature live socially distanced screenings in Florence, Italy at the Cinema La Compagnia, as well as on-demand virtual screenings. The films will be complemented by public dialogues with filmmakers, UNICEF personnel, and others.

UIFF 2021 follows the inaugural 2019 edition, which featured over 30 films presented by filmmakers across the world. The 2019 selections included short and feature length documentaries and dramas, as well as animated films. 

One of the 2019 selections, Mohamed Kenawi’s MINOR’S HOPE, puts a human face on many of the issues explored in the RD4C initiative. Kenawi’s documentary short follows three teenage asylum seekers after their arrival in Rome. The boys seek out work and a sense of belonging in their new home and rely on the support of a supervisor at their reception center. The film clearly demonstrates how the boys’ integration into their new home relies on the safe and effective collection, handling, and use of potentially sensitive information. The boys would struggle to forge a new life in Italy absent this information; faulty handling of this information could create risks to the boys’ safety or status in the country. 

A recent UNICEF Child Protection Learning Brief also explores important lessons learned for supporting children on the move. 

You can watch MINOR’S HOPE below.

Back to the Blog