Ahead of World Refugee Day on June 20, a film screening event entitled “PEACE FOR ALL × Displacement Film Fund Short Film Special Screening” was held by UNIQLO on June 18, at TOHO Cinemas Roppongi Hills, with the cooperation of UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and TOHO CO., LTD.
 
The talk session held ahead of the screening featured four speakers: Clare Stewart, Managing Director of the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR); Okamoto Tao, actor, model, and filmmaker, who served as a jury for Asian Students’ Film Conference at the 38th Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF), and recently became the first Japanese actor to win the Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival; Yanai Koji, Fast Retailing Group Senior Executive Officer; and Ichiyama Shozo, TIFF Programming Director. Together, they discussed the power of film to communicate displaced people’s experiences and foster greater understanding.

 
During the talk event, Stewart emphasized the urgency of the DFF’s purpose of supporting displaced filmmakers and bringing stories of displacement to wider audiences. She described it as “a very unique fund,” noting that, from a film industry perspective, collaborations of this kind—which bring together cultural and philanthropic foundations, and companies such as UNIQLO—are very rare.
 
Ichiyama responded by commending the films supported by the DFF, stating that while they address refugee-related themes and include works by filmmakers with displaced backgrounds, they are “not driven by theme alone, but are also outstanding as films.” He explained that he was impressed by the selection of talented directors and the cinematic quality of the works, which led to their selection at the TIFF.
 
Okamoto also expressed strong empathy for the mission of the DFF, referring to her own family’s refugee background and the thoughts that led her to direct her film My Sweet Pala. She commented that “as more individual stories are shared with people, empathy can spread, leading to a better and kinder world,” and spoke passionately about why these are films that audiences should see now.
 
Yanai concluded the discussion saying, “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. I believe these films will serve as a catalyst for increasing interest in and understanding of the refugee issue within Japan.”
 
The screening featured two of the five films supported in the DFF’s first funding round: Hasan Kattan’s Allies in Exile and Maryna Er Gorbach’s Rotation. TIFF will host the Japan premieres of five short films produced with first-round support at the festival’s 39th edition from October 26 to November 4, 2026.
 
⇒ 39th TIFF to Host Japan Premieres of Films Supported by Displacement Film Fund
 
The Displacement Film Fund (DFF)
The Displacement Film Fund was established to support and fund the work of filmmakers who have been forcibly displaced, or who have a track record of telling stories about displacement. Co-created and led by UNHCR Global Goodwill Ambassador Cate Blanchett, the Fund was announced at the 54th International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) in 2025, with MASTER MIND, UNIQLO, Droom en Daad, the Tamer Family Foundation, and the Amahoro Coalition as founding partners. The Hubert Bals Fund serves as a managing partner, and UNHCR as a strategic partner. At the 55th IFFR, Aarti Lohia and the SP Lohia Foundation were announced as new major partners.
 
The five short films produced with first-round support had their world premieres at IFFR 2026, where they received strong international acclaim. Following this success, five newly selected filmmakers for the second-round support —including Mohammed Amer, Annemarie Jacir, Akuol de Mabior, Bao Nguyen, and Rithy Panh—were announced at Cannes 2026.
 

PEACE FOR ALL x DFF collaborative T-shirt
As a collaboration between UNIQLO’s charity T-shirt project “PEACE FOR ALL” and DFF, a T-shirt designed with words on the theme of peace contributed by the five filmmakers supported in the Fund’s first round will be available from June 19, 2026. Profits generated from sales of the DFF T-shirt will be donated back to DFF to support its mission.