Children’s Film Festival Seattle is proud to be one of more than 50 partners of PLURAL+ — a youth-produced video festival that encourages young people to make films about migration, diversity and social inclusion, and to share their creative vision with the world. The films here, all made by filmmakers 25 years and younger, are the most recent prizewinners at the 2016 PLURAL+ festival.
​
In these searing and heartfelt shorts, you’ll meet Middle-Eastern refugees who express the trauma of leaving home, young women from Ghana who describe their daily reality, and African-American and Indigenous young people who rise up to assert their rights. These films will shake you, awaken you, enlighten you and also give you hope that young people are fighting, all over the world, for dignity and a better tomorrow.
​
Curated by CFFS PLURAL+ youth jury member, Isaac Hughes, age 17.

No one turned away for lack of funds.

– – –

Diversity
PLURAL+ 2016 Global Block Award
(Dickson Oyugi [Pause N Play], Kenya, live action, 2016, 3:50 min, in English) Kenyan youth assert their rights to a meaningful and productive life.

Displacement
PLURAL+ 2016 Children’s Film Festival Seattle Award, PLURAL+ 2016 IOM Migration Research & Training Centre Award
(Shatha Alghabri, Malaysia, live action, 2016, 4:26 min, in Arabic with English subtitles) Yemeni children share their experiences of being a refugee as they recount what they have seen and what they miss.

Belonging
PLURAL+ Honorary Award
(Pierre Chin Ho Ieong, France, live action, 2016, 4:31 min, in English) A Syrian Armenian discusses the lessons his father taught him, and how those lessons helped him transition to life in France.

Walls
PLURAL+ DANUBE 2016
(Severin Stalter, Germany, live action, 2016, 3:04 min, in German with English subtitles) An exchange students learns the importance of breaking down cultural barriers.

I’m Human
PLURAL+ UNTV Award
(Razan Haikal, Jordan, animation, 2014, 5:37 min, in Arabic with English subtitles) After losing home during war in Syria, Human enters through a world of deep emotions carrying the most valuable belongings in a suitcase.

The Cops Don’t Know
PLURAL+ 2016 FERA-LUCERO Award
(Sam Chegini, Iran/UK, animation, 2016, 6:27 min, in English) A music video that asserts that Black Lives Matter.

My Invisible Mother
PLURAL+ 2016 Paley Center Education Award
(Pascal Huynh, Canada, live action & animation, 2016, 3:23 min, in English) A story of the life of an adoptee, and his thoughts about his biological mother.

North to South
PLURAL+ 2016 SIGNIS Award
(Coniah Pougam Mouiche, Ghana, live action, 2016, 5:05 min, in English) In Ghana, war and poverty forces many young women to become head porters, an occupation with many dangers.

The Price of Nuestros Sueños
Center Education Award, PLURAL+ International Jury Award PLURAL+ 2016 Paley
(Perla Liberato, US, live action, 2016, 4:35 min, in English) Life in New York has not been easy for immigrant Perla Lopez and her mother. However, their dreams are still alive.

Through Their Eyes: A Day in the Shoes of an Integrating Refugee
PLURAL+ 2016 Global Block Award
(Catherine Serianni, US, live action, 2016, 3:08 min, in English) Life through the eyes of a refugee in the United States shows the struggle of integrating into a new society.

Global Citizens
PLURAL+ 2016 AFS Intercultural Award
(Alejandro Gonzalez Permingeat, Indonesia, live action, 2016, 4:40 min, in Spanish with English subtitles) The experience of an Argentinian student traveling to Indonesia to study has changed his perspectives on cultures, and the barriers between them.

A Letter to My Unborn Daughter
PLURAL+ Reel Grrls Male Feminist Award
(DaeQuan Collier, US, live action, 2016, 5 min, in English) A powerful message about racism and sexism, both in the past and future.

I Want to Be Me
PLURAL+ 2016 FilmAid Award
(Ather, Yemen, live action, 2016, 3:52 min, in Arabic with English subtitles) Lebanese Refugees spanning generations explain the struggles of the refugee community, and the longing to return to Palestine.

I Am Aliya
Silk Road Award, International Jury Award PLURAL+ 2016, Insight Award PLURAL+ 2016
(Matic Carl, Martin Deisinger, and Mojca Spik, Slovenia, live action, 2016, 3:01 min, in English) For Aliya, a Syrian refugee, life has gone still as she reflects on her experiences and her hopes.

American Seoul
PLURAL+ Reel Grrls Best Animation Award
(Jeeyoon Lee, US, live action, 2016, 3:04 min, in English) Migration to the United States is tough for this Korean Family, yet a silver lining exists in a tasty idea.

We Will Rise (Nous nous soulèverons)
PLURAL+ Tribeca Film Institute 2016 Creative Direction Award
(Natasha Kanapé Fontaine, Canada, live action, 2016, 4:13 min, in French & Innu with English subtitles) In an inspired and powerful text, the talented Innu poet Natasha Kanapé Fontaine invites us to rise up to bring light to the world.

– – –

Notes for parents: some of the films contain content related to gun violence, poverty, incarceration, and the effects of war. There are a few coarse words. All the films are great springboards for conversation, and a springboard to activism and getting involved in both national and world issues.