News & Updates

Last Updated: 2026.05.19

Displacement Film Fund, Supported by UNIQLO, Announces New Production Grant Recipients - First-Round Short Films to Premiere in Japan at the 2026 Tokyo International Film Festival

UNIQLO CO., LTD.
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At the Cannes Film Festival, Cate Blanchett, co-founder and leader of The Displacement Film Fund (DFF), supported by UNIQLO, announced the Fund's five second-round short film production grant recipients--Mohammed Amer, Annemarie Jacir, Akuol de Mabior, Bao Nguyen, and Rithy Panh--and confirmed that the Fund's first-round films will make their Japanese premieres at the Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF) in October 2026. Amongst the recipients for the second funding round is Annemarie Jacir, whose film Palestine 36 was awarded Tokyo Grand Prix, and Rithy Pahn, whose film We Are the Fruits of the Forest was awarded Special Jury Prize at the TIFF in 2025.

The five first-round short films that will have their Japanese premieres at TIFF in October 2026 are Rotation by Maryna Er Gorbach, Whispers of a Burning Scent by Mo Harawe, Allies in Exile by Hasan Kattan, Sense of Water by Mohammad Rasoulof, and Super Afghan Gym by Shahrbanoo Sadat. The films had their world premieres at the 2026 International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR), where they generated a strong response, including sold-out screenings. They have also received international acclaim, including a five-star review from The Guardian.

At the Cannes press conference, Cate Blanchett was joined by newly selected filmmakers Mohammed Amer, Annemarie Jacir, Akuol de Mabior, and Bao Nguyen. The session was moderated by IFFR Managing Director Clare Stewart and included discussion of the Fund's second phase, the selected filmmakers and their projects, and broader industry efforts to support filmmakers who have been forced into displacement.

The establishment of the DFF was announced in January 2025 during the 54th IFFR by Cate Blanchett together with IFFR's Hubert Bals Fund. The DFF aims to support filmmakers who have been forced into displacement due to conflict or persecution, as well as filmmakers with a proven track record of authentically portraying the experiences of displaced people. UNIQLO is a founding partner of the DFF and supports its activities through an annual donation of 100,000 euros.

Clare Stewart, Managing Director IFFR, and Tamara Tatishvili, Head of The Hubert Bals Fund, said: "It is a privilege to return to Cannes with the Displacement Film Fund, following the remarkable journey we've embarked on with the first cohort and the success of their premiere screenings at IFFR 2026. The recipients of our second cycle once again reflect an extraordinary breadth of filmmaking talent - with each navigating their own personal experiences of displacement - and we are proud to help bring their vital stories into the spotlight. At a time of ongoing global uncertainty, our commitment to maintaining this fund only deepens, alongside our belief in championing film as a powerful force for encouraging empathy and positive change."

Shozo Ichiyama, Programming Director of TIFF, said: "We are profoundly honored to present five films supported by the Displacement Film Fund at the Tokyo International Film Festival. At a time of heightened global political volatility, this project addresses deeply critical issues. Crafted by talented directors, these five works represent a cinematic adventure in every sense, filled with remarkable surprises. We look forward with great anticipation to seeing how this diverse selection resonates with audience members at TIFF."

Koji Yanai, Group Senior Executive Officer at Fast Retailing, said: "UNIQLO has supported refugees for more than 20 years. We are deeply grateful to our customers and the many others whose support has helped expand this circle of assistance. At the same time, awareness and understanding of refugee issues--particularly in Japan--have yet to reach a sufficient level. I believe film has the power to move people and change perspectives. The works by the directors we supported in the first round are notable for their range--from fiction to documentary--as well as for the strong conviction, deep emotion and empathy rooted in the directors' own experiences. We are sincerely grateful to the Tokyo International Film Festival for recognizing these works and creating opportunities for them to be screened in Japan. We also have high expectations for the five filmmakers selected in the second round and for the stories that will emerge from their work."

By continuing its support for the DFF, UNIQLO aims to combine its "Made for All" philosophy with the power of film, bringing the stories of displaced people to wider audiences and creating opportunities to deepen understanding and engagement with refugee issues around the world.

About the newly announced projects from the second round of the five recipient filmmakers

Filmmaker: Mohammed Amer
Mohammed "Mo" Amer is an award-winning Palestinian-American comedian/writer/director. Currently starring in the acclaimed two seasons of Netflix's MO, a semi-autobiographical series. MO was 'certified fresh' by Rotten Tomatoes with a rare 100% from critics, and was named one of the best shows of 2022 and 2025 by The New York Times, NY Magazine, and TIME Magazine. The series also garnered Amer a Gotham Award, 2023 Peabody Award and 2025 Peabody Nominee, AFI Honors, and a Television Academy Honor.

Return to Sender (working title) (Palestine/US)
After receiving his refugee travel document, a Palestinian stand-up comedian embarks on the world tour of his dreams, but each new country presents increasingly absurd immigration hurdles that test his emotional and mental resolve.

Filmmaker: Annemarie Jacir
Annemarie Jacir is a Palestinian filmmaker, writer and producer who has premiered films in Berlin, Venice, Cannes, Locarno and Toronto. All four of her feature films were selected as Palestine's Oscar entries. Her acclaimed Salt of this Sea (2008) was the first film to be shot by a Palestinian female director and her second work to debut in Cannes. With a commitment to mentoring, training and hiring locally, Annemarie actively promotes independent cinema in the region. Her latest feature Palestine 36, her most ambitious project to date, was shortlisted for the Academy Awards and received multiple international awards including the Grand Prize in Tokyo. Annemarie lives and works in Palestine.

Deconstruction (working title) (Palestine)
Set in Haifa - a city built on layers of presence and absence, memory and reinvention - Deconstruction follows a man navigating the in-between as the past is uncovered, rearranged, sold, and made new.

Filmmaker: Akuol de Mabior
Akuol de Mabior is a South Sudanese filmmaker who grew up in Kenya and was born in Cuba. She has directed one feature-length film and four shorts. No Simple Way Home (2022), her feature-directorial debut, was the first South Sudanese film to screen at the Berlin International Film Festival. The film went on to win the Dok.horizonte Award at Dok.fest Munich and was nominated for two IDA awards: best documentary and best writing. Believing that the perspectives of African women are undervalued, she aims to create stories for the screen that reach African audiences and encourage a renewed African imagination.

Traces of a Broken Line (working title) (South Africa/South Sudan)
War breaks a lineage, forcing a mother to preserve what she can no longer pass down.

Filmmaker: Bao Nguyen
Bao Nguyen is a Vietnamese American filmmaker and founding partner of EAST Films whose work explores memory, migration, identity, and the emotional lives shaped by history. He recently produced The Dream Is a Snail, the first Vietnamese short film ever selected in competition at Cannes. His directorial work includes The Stringer, which premiered at Sundance and earned four Emmy nominations; Be Water, about cultural icon Bruce Lee; The Greatest Night in Pop, which won a PGA Award and Critics Choice Award; and BTS: The Return, a Netflix documentary that reached the Top 10 in 85 countries. As a producer, his credits include Nước 2030, a Vietnamese science fiction film that opened the 2014 Panorama section of the Berlinale and Ròm, winner of the New Currents Award at Busan 2019. He is the son of Vietnamese refugees who left Vietnam in 1979 and was born in the United States shortly after their arrival.

How to Ride a Bike (working title) (US/Vietnam)
A Vietnamese refugee father who never learned to ride a bike tries to teach his young son, and when he fails, begins learning in secret, confronting a lifelong shame he has carried since boyhood.

Filmmaker: Rithy Panh
Rithy Panh is an internationally acclaimed Cambodian filmmaker, writer, and producer whose work has profoundly shaped contemporary world cinema through its exploration of memory, trauma and the legacy of the Khmer Rouge regime. His films, including The Rice People, S21: The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine, The Missing Picture, Exile, Graves Without a Name, and Everything Will Be OK, have premiered and received major awards at Cannes, Venice, and the Berlinale. The Missing Picture won the Un Certain Regard Prize at Cannes and received an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film. Beyond his filmmaking, Panh is deeply committed to supporting emerging filmmakers and preserving Cambodia's audiovisual heritage. He founded the Bophana Center in Phnom Penh, dedicated to film archives, education, and creative training for new generations of Cambodian artists.

Time... Speak (working title) (France/Germany)
An exiled filmmaker returns to the broken fragments of his memory - shattered figurines, archives, and silences - to reconstruct through cinema a form of life in which the disappeared continue to speak.

The Filmmakers were selected for the 2026 Fund following a two-step process developed during the pilot year. A longlist of filmmakers was determined by a Nominations Committee and a Selection Committee decided on final recipients. For the second cycle, the Nominations Committee included journalist and documentarian Waad Al Kateab (We Dare to Dream, For Sama, director and screenwriter Agnieszka Holland (Green Border), UNHCR supporter Ke Huy Quan, Head of the Hubert Bals Fund Tamara Tatishvili, IFFR Managing Director Clare Stewart, and the DFF Partners.
The Selection Committee was chaired by Cate Blanchett and included IFFR Festival Director Vanja Kaludjercic, film and stage producer Barbara Broccoli (James Bond film franchise), educator, activist and refugee Aisha Khurram, and filmmaker Mo Harawe who was selected for the DFF's first cycle.

About the Tokyo International Film Festival
The Tokyo International Film Festival started in 1985 as Japan's first major film festival and is the only competitive feature film festival in Japan accredited by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations (FIAPF). It takes place every autumn in Hibiya-Yurakucho-Marunouchi-Ginza area. With its mission, To amplify the possibilities of cinema from Tokyo and contribute to interactions with a diverse world, the festival has served as a hub where filmmakers and audiences discover talent and evocative storytelling, bringing excellent films from around the world. In 2026, TIFF has been officially distinguished as an "A-Festival"--a designation for international film festivals demonstrating the highest international impact by FIAPF.

About First Short Films Supported by the Displacement Film Fund

About the Displacement Film Fund
The Displacement Film Fund (DFF) is established to champion and fund the work of displaced filmmakers, or filmmakers with a proven track record in creating authentic storytelling on the experiences of displaced people. The pilot short film funding scheme was launched at IFFR 2025 by UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Cate Blanchett with support from Master Mind, UNIQLO, Droom en Daad, the Tamer Family Foundation and Amahoro Coalition as Founding Partners, the Hubert Bals Fund as Management Partner and UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, as Strategic Partner. Following the success of the pilot year, new major partners joined the Fund at IFFR 2026.

Fast Retailing Group's Refugee Support Activities

• 2001: Donated 12,000 Air Tech jackets to refugees in Afghanistan through an NPO.
• 2006: Began working with UNHCR, visiting refugee camps and providing clothing support; a global partnership agreement was concluded in 2011.
• 2011: Began hiring refugees at UNIQLO stores; refugee employment has since expanded across Japan, the U.S., Germany and other markets.
• 2022: Launched a self‑reliance initiative for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh; 773 refugee women have received sewing skills training.
• 2022: Launched the PEACE FOR ALL charity T‑shirt project.
• 2023: Participated in the Global Refugee Forum hosted by UNHCR, leading to the establishment of the Displacement Film Fund.
• 2024: Launched The Heart of LifeWear, donating one million HEATTECH items globally.
• 2025: Donated 100,000 euros as a founding partner of the Displacement Film Fund; donated 500,000 HEATTECH items to Syrian returnees.
• 2026: Continued support for the Displacement Film Fund with a donation of 100,000 euros.

 

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