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REFUGEE WEEK 2009 - NEWS RELEASE

8th June 2009

Award-winning film at the Arnolfini for Refugee Week

ARNOLFINI Arts Centre is marking National Refugee Week with an
award-winning and moving film about exile.

The cinema has teamed up with charity Refugee Action to show 'La Forteresse', a film that gives audiences a glimpse into the hidden world of a Swiss reception centre for asylum seekers.

The film - which will be shown on Friday June 19th, was awarded the Golden Leopard in 2008 at the Locarno Film Festival and will have its UK premiere during Refugee Week in Bristol, London and Nottingham.

Refugee Week celebrates the UK's history of providing sanctuary to people fleeing human rights abuses and celebrates their contribution to the UK. As part of Refugee Week's 'Simple Acts' campaign, audiences are being urged to 'watch a film about refugees' - just one of the 20 small everyday actions that can be carried out by all in a bid to inspire people to change perceptions of refugees.

Director Fernand Melgar said of his film: "Today a significant section of the population tends to demonise asylum seekers. Without being militant or populist, I simply wanted to show with objectivity the lived reality of these people who have come to Switzerland to save their life or in the hope of a more dignified existence."

Elinor Harris, manager of Refugee Action in Bristol, said: "We are
delighted to be working with the Arnolfini cinema and are proud to be showcasing La Forteresse for this first time in Bristol. The Simple Acts campaign is all about inspiring people to learn about refugees and welcome them to Britain. La Forteresse will give cinema-goers the chance to look beyond the walls of a reception centre and see what the lives of asylum seekers are really like."

Information about the film

Venue: Arnolfini Arts Centre

Venue address: 16 Narrow Quay, Bristol, BS1 4QA

Date: Friday June 19th @ 8pm

Entry price: £6/£4.50 concessions

Booking information: Phone: 0117 917 2300

To find out more about Refugee Week's Simple Acts campaign go to www.simpleacts.org.uk

Ends

For more information contact Julia Ravenscroft, press officer at
Refugee Action, on 0161 233 1956/ 07771 748 159 or
Juliar@refugee-action.org.uk

Notes:

• La Forteresse: For the first time, a camera looks into the hidden world of a Swiss reception centre for asylum seekers and immerses us in the daily sorting process of the human diaspora. Awarding it the Golden Leopard, the Locarno festival jury cited 'a remarkably sensitive film exhibiting profound human intelligence. Discreetly and masterfully realised, but never voyeuristic, and with a message that is directly and evocatively conveyed.'
• About Simple Acts (www.simpleacts.org.uk)
  
  The Simple Acts campaign is about inspiring individuals to use small, everyday actions to change perceptions of refugees.
  
  It consists of 20 actions that can be done by anyone and that encourage us to learn and do more with refugees. With every person who joins the campaign and does a small thing with and for refugees, we get a little closer to removing barriers between communities and to creating the kind of world we all want to live in.
  
  1. Cook a dish from another country
  2. Tell a child a story from another country
  3. Watch a movie about refugees
  4. Do a quiz on refugees
  5. Say a little prayer for me
  6. Read a book about exile
  7. Sign off your email with a note about refugees
  8. Find five facts about refugees
  9. Find out who you REALLY are
  10. Visit a Refugee Week event
  11. Smile :o)
  12. Learn to say a few things in a new language
  13. Have tea with a refugee
  14. Share a song
  15. Join a big action campaign in support of refugees
  16. Share your sweets
  17. Give a book about refugees as a present to someone
  18. Define the word “Refuge”
  19. Take a picture of you and your pro-refugee banner
  20. Play football with refugees
• National Refugee Week (June 16th - 22nd) is a UK wide festival that celebrates the enormous contribution made by refugees to UK life. Every year hundreds of arts, cultural and educational events are organised across the UK.
• Refugee Action is an independent, national charity working to enable refugees to build new lives in the UK. We provide practical advice and assistance for newly arrived asylum seekers and long-term commitment to their settlement through community development work, and received 30,000 visits from asylum seekers last year. As one of the country’s leading agencies in the field, Refugee Action has 27 years’ experience in pioneering innovative work in partnership with refugees.

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