October 21-30, 2011

We are delighted to announce the 14th UNAFF (United Nations Association Film Festival), which was originally conceived to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It was founded by Stanford educator and film critic Jasmina Bojic with the participation of the Stanford Film Society and the UNA Midpeninsula Chapter, a grassroots and community-based nonprofit organization. The 14th UNAFF will be held from October 21-30, 2011 in Palo Alto, East Palo Alto, San Francisco and Stanford University. The theme for this year is EDUCATION IS A HUMAN RIGHT.

UNAFF celebrates the power of films dealing with human rights, environmental themes, population, migration, women’s issues, refugees, homelessness, racism, health, universal education, war and peace. UNAFF has screened some of the most awarded and talked about documentaries in the industry including five that went on to win Academy Awards (The Panama Deception, Thoth, The Blood of Yingzhou District, Freeheld and Taxi to the Dark Side) and twenty one that were nominated (Regret to Inform, Genghis Blues, Long Night’s Journey Into Day, LaLe’s Kin: The Legacy of Cotton, Promises, Daughter from Danang, When Abortion Was Illegal, Twist of Faith, God Sleeps in Rwanda, War/Dance, Salim Baba, Trouble the Water, The Garden, Burma VJ, China’s Unnatural Disaster - The Tears of Sichuan Province, The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers, Rabbit a la Berlin, Which Way Home, Gasland, Killing In the Name and Waste Land ).

Over 600 submissions from all over the world have been reviewed for the 14^th annual UNAFF. Our final program consists of a record 70 films related to Algeria, Argentina, Austria, Benin, Belgium, Bhutan, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burma, Canada, Chad, China, Congo, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Ethiopia, France, Georgia, Germany, Ghana,, Guatemala, Honduras, Japan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Iran, Israel, Italy, Mali, Morocco, Mexico, Moldova, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Nigeria, North Korea, Norway, Pakistan, Palestine, Peru, The Philippines, Poland, Romania, Russia, Senegal, Serbia Singapore, Spain, South Africa, South Korea, Sudan, Sweden, Syria, Thailand, UAE, Uganda,  United Kingdom, Ukraine, USA, Uzbekistan, Venezuela and Zimbabwe.

UNAFF gives five awards - UNAFF Grand Jury Award for Best Documentary, UNAFF Grand Jury Award for Best Short Documentary, UNAFF Youth Vision Award, UNAFF/Stanford Video Award for Cinematography and UNAFF/Stanford Video Award for Editing.

Encouraged by the overwhelmingly positive response from our audience and the media, we continue with the UNAFF year round screenings through our Traveling Film Festival, which has taken place in San Francisco, Berkeley, Monterey, Santa Cruz, Davis, Saratoga, Sonoma, Sebastopol, San Diego, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Salt Lake City, Honolulu, Philadelphia, Chicago, Washington DC, New York, Burlington, New Hampshire, Bellevue, La Crosse, Houston, Durham at Duke University, New Haven at Yale University, Waukesha at University of Wisconsin, Boston and Cambridge at Harvard University and internationally in Paris, Venice, Belgrade, Phnom Penh and Abu Dhabi.

UNAFF has twice won the WAVE Awards for best promotional trailer and was nominated last year for a CreaTVe Award. In 2010 MovieMaker Magazine also listed UNAFF as one of the “Top 25 Festivals worth the Entry Fee.” Furthermore, UNAFF won the prestigious Earl W. Eames Award for innovatively combining new technologies with traditional media. As an acknowledgment of the 10^th anniversary, UNAFF received the “Community Treasure Award” from Stanford University President John Hennessy for its contribution in promoting dialogue and education about different cultures and issues. For the last eight years the Mayor of Palo Alto has proclaimed the festival days as UNAFF Week, consistently recognizing the significance that UNAFF has for the community. Most recently, UNAFF received the prestigious Academy Foundation Grant for the “UNAFF and Kids” program, which will have its third presentation this year.

UNAFF is an independent project of the UNA-USA, a nonprofit organization. By making a tax-deductible donation to UNAFF you will directly give a chance to tens of thousands of people to see these important films that bring us together as a diverse community.

Please send your gift (check payable to UNAFF) to:

UNAFF
P.O. Box 19369
Stanford, CA 94309

or you can donate online via PayPal (send to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. )

We hope that the variety of film programs and other related events during UNAFF 2011 and UNAFF Traveling Film Festival will present you with a truly exciting and memorable experience.

Warmest regards,

Jasmina Bojic

Founder and Executive Director

UNAFF & UNAFF Traveling Film Festival