As a member of UNHCR WILL2LIVE Cinema Partners and in conjunction with the “UNHCR WILL2LIVE Movement 2022 (17th UNHCR Refugee Film Festival)”, the university held a hybrid in-person-online screening of the film “Refugee” on Sunday 9th and Friday 28th October, which was attended by about 250 people from within and outside the university.

The film festival aims to broaden understanding of refugee struggles through film and is cooperating with educational institutions to spread awareness, starting with universities. Soka University has a partnership agreement with the UNHCR and has been a member of their school partners since 2017. This event was organized together with the student organization ASPIRE SOKA, which promotes the UN’s peace-building efforts.

At the screening on the 28th, after President Masashi Suzuki’s greeting, Junko Kunitake (Literature 3rd year) and Kiyoko Shitanishi (International Liberal Arts 3rd year) from Save Children Network (SCN) gave a talk on the topic of “Refugees” and introduced SCN’s activities. After that, Noriko Ogita (Economics 4th year) who was in charge of students at the film festival said, “I want people to learn about refugees through these films, and I want them to be an opportunity for people to ask themselves what they can do.”
The film is a documentary movie that closely follows one Syrian family as they set out on a journey to find somewhere to live in peace, for the future of their children.
The students taking part gave the following comments.

• I learned how ugly human life can be. I didn’t realize it was so difficult to live happily with one’s family. We all live on Earth, and I’d like to create a world where we’re like birds without borders, each helping the other become happy.
• Regardless of their nationality or race, refugees are human just like us, and I felt strongly that I want them to hold on to their hopes and dreams without losing to reality. “There is no human dignity” in the cruel life of a refugee: those words ached in my chest. As long as there is war and strife, refugees will keep being born. Ever since I had the opportunity to understand this reality, I’ve become much more interested in what I can do for the refugee crisis.
• On top of the numbers, statistics, and research that teach people about the refugee crisis, I felt that it was so important to capture their stories and communicate them through film. Thank you for holding an event like this.