Immigration Film Festival

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IFF brings stories of immigrants and refugees to diverse audiences in the DC area through an annual film festival and smaller events throughout the year.

Join us for the 8th Annual Immigration Film Festival! Mark your calendars and join us online and in person, on October 14-17, 2021 and beyond as we celebrate the contributions of immigrants and refugees. Get your FREE tickets here (although we would appreciate donations): http://www.immigrationfilmfest.org/

10/10/2026

Last weekend Sina Gebre-Ab from FOX 5 DC had Immigration Film Fest organizer Aurora Fonseca on to talk about the festival and its impact. Join us before the festival comes to a conclusion tomorrow on October 11!

Our immigrant communities are facing a perilous legal and political environment, and we hope that the festival will offer a welcoming space to celebrate immigrants and refugees in our communities and connect and learn from the diverse perspectives featured in our films!

🔗Visit the link in our bio to join us for the fest!

10/08/2026

⏱️ Less than 4 days left! Stream films from the 13th annual Immigration Film Festival until Sunday!

Catch these three stories before they’re gone!

✨Ibrahima A newly arrived Mauritanian immigrant in New York City finds resilience and dignity while living in a park and collecting cans to survive.

➡️ Swipe for the other two.

👉 Head to the link in our bio to access the virtual films. Streaming ends Sunday at 11:59PM EST!

✨The Gardener

A whimsical immigrant forges a deep-rooted bond with nature when life gives him a bitter one.

👉 Head to the link in our bio to access the virtual films. Streaming ends Sunday at 11:59PM EST!

✨Music of Our Neighbors
 Musicians and dancers in provincial Germany use performance to preserve heritage and bridge cultural divides.

👉 Head to the link in our bio to access the virtual films. Streaming ends Sunday at 11:59PM EST!

10/07/2026

From October 2nd to October 11th, explore the trials of immigrant and humanitarian perseverance through the virtual screenings of short film, The Crossing (El Cruce) and the documentary, Murky Waters. Two films that explore the dangers of a "crossing."

In The Crossing (El Cruce), a Guatemalan farmer on a perilous journey north risks everything to secure a future for his family. The past and present collide in a story of survival, memory, and sacrifice.

In Murky Waters, protagonist Mo travels with a humanitarian organization to the Greek island of Le**os to help refugees. When saving a crowded boat from drowning, the authorities accuse him of human trafficking.

🎟️Get your tickets today: https://immigrationfilmfest26.eventive.org/welcome

10/06/2026

Witness the determination of immigrant and refugee women and girls in the documentary short KISMET II - Dreaming a whole life long and the feature-length documentary Night Fog in Kurdistan. We will be screening these films as part of our virtual festival from October 2nd through October 11th.

KISMET II - Dreaming a whole life long explores the world of Fehir Ceylan and Pakize Uslu, two women who came to Germany from Turkey as part of the “guest worker” migration in the 1960s. Through the stories of her grandmothers, Fehir and Pakize, filmmaker Merve Uslu-Ersoy offers insights into her past and allows viewers to experience the emotional impact of their migration firsthand.

Night and Fog in Kurdistan follows the aftermath of the 2014 ISIS genocide against the Yazidi people. Kurdish director Shilan Saadi leads a filmmaking workshop for seven teenage girls living in a Turkish refugee camp. As the girls document their daily lives and form deep bonds, their newly built community begins to fracture when they slowly disperse across Europe.

🎟️Get your tickets now: https://immigrationfilmfest26.eventive.org/welcome

10/06/2026

After a fantastic first weekend filled with laughs, tears, community connection, food, engaging discussion, and five incredible films, we’ll be kicking off our second weekend on Saturday, October 10 with three films centered on the theme of “Refugees: People, Place, Perseverance.”

We Name Ourselves is an inspiring and engaging feature documentary screening on Saturday. Taking the viewer inside the Dzaleka Refugee Camp in Malawi, which is filled with approximately 52,000 displaced persons, a group of teens turn to spoken word poetry to cope and express their shared humanity. The annual Tumaini Festival gives them a chance to bring their vibrant voices out of the shadows and provide a respite from the camp’s harsh realities.

We’ll be hosting a discussion following the screening with Laura Osuri, Executive Director of Homes Not Borders, and William Evans, Policy Analyst at US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants

Get tickets now at the link in our bio!

10/05/2026

Once a high-security prison, Dzaleka Refugee Camp in Malawi now shelters over 53,000 displaced people from war-torn countries. Amidst this chaotic environment, a group of teenagers turn to spoken word poetry as a way to navigate a world with the odds stacked against them.

Catch this globally-impactful documentary, We Name Ourselves, at its DC premiere next Saturday, October 10th at the MLK Jr Memorial Library (5th floor Auditorium) as part of the 2026 Immigration Film Fest!

We’ll be hosting a discussion following the screening with Laura Osuri, Executive Director of Homes Not Borders, and William Evans, Policy Analyst at US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants.

🎟️ Secure your tickets now at the link in our bio.

10/01/2026

We’re so excited for Saturday’s “The Families We Build” film screening featuring the award-winning documentary, Between Goodbyes (BETWEEN GOODBYES ), and short film, Girl | Dad (Girl | Dad Film ), two poignant films exploring the complex family dynamics of intercountry and in*******al adoption.

Following the screening, we’ll hear from local author and comic artist Sarah Myer (they/them), poet and memoirist Ryan Jafar Artes (he/she/they), and moderator Kim Gube (she/her) in a discussion on intercountry and in*******al adoption, identity, and the different contexts of “family.”

We hope that you’ll join us on Saturday!

10/01/2026

The wait is over—Immigration Film Fest kicks off tomorrow!!

Our opening night's screening is a special community event at Festival Center exploring the bonds that tie us together, in particular food and music! We'll have some incredible locally made food at the screening and plenty of time to mingle with one another starting at 6:00pm.

👉️ Our two of our short film presentations expand on this theme!

Embrace the local DMV community love with Her Anthem, a documentary short! After fleeing Afghanistan and rebuilding her life in America, classically trained singer Huri faces community backlash when her Northern Virginia mosque children's choir is invited to sing the National Anthem at a Washington Wizards game. Rather than backing down, she uses the moment to encourage her students to claim their space and raise their voices.

Afrissippi, also a documentary short, follows a Senegalese chef and musician's journey from Dakar to the U.S., which unfolds through the rhythms of his music and flavors of his cuisine, revealing how food and art transcend borders to forge identity, belonging, and cultural connection.

The director of Her Anthem, Amina Chaudary, and its subject Hurie Fariad, alongside Nich Perez, the director of our feature presentation, Kamal's, will be joining us for a Q&A after the screening!

🔗 Secure your tickets now: https://immigrationfilmfest26.eventive.org/welcome

09/30/2026

With traversing international barriers comes overcoming cross-cultural barriers. From October 2nd through October 11th, witness real life immigrant families navigate cultural obstacles in finding belonging and connection in an unfamiliar place. Tune in forJoin our virtual screenings of the two gripping documentaries, Give and Take and ESL: More Than a Language to find out more.

In Give and Take, two newlyweds, a school teacher and an artist, leave their lives in Hong Kong and wrestle with the promise of freedom in Canada.

In ESL: More Than a Language, a group of immigrant families confront a fundamental need: the ability to communicate. In this new English-speaking culture, limited access to language education leaves them facing a world that’s foreign at every turn.

🎟️Reserve your tickets now: https://immigrationfilmfest26.eventive.org/welcome

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Washington D.C., DC
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http://www.immigrationfilmfest.org/

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