Cate Blanchett Premieres Displacement Fund Shorts in Tokyo — SkimNews
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- Cate Blanchett will attend the 2026 Tokyo International Film Festival (October 26–November 4) to screen five short films produced with support from her Displacement Film Fund, which counts Japanese brand Uniqlo as a founding partner.
- Mohammad Rasoulof and Shahrbanoo Sadat will join Blanchett for a post-screening Q&A; their films "Sense of Water" (Iran/Germany) and "Super Afghan Gym" (Germany) are among the five inaugural shorts.
- Blanchett is also set to receive the Tokyo Film Festival's Praemium Imperiale Award the same week as the screenings.
- The five funded shorts span Syria, Ukraine, Iran, Afghanistan, and Somalia, directed by Hasan Kattan, Maryna Er Gorbach, Mohammad Rasoulof, Shahrbanoo Sadat, and Mo Harawe, centering on exile, military service, and life under restrictive regimes.
- The Displacement Film Fund backs filmmakers experiencing displacement; Blanchett said in a statement that "their stories may feel even more urgent" and that displaced artists "shouldn't abandon their creativity."
Why it matters: The fund's inaugural slate gives the Displacement Film Fund its first major international platform, and pairing the premiere with Blanchett's Praemium Imperiale honor elevates both the initiative and its filmmakers — including Rasoulof, an Iranian dissident director. For directors like Rasoulof and Sadat, the Tokyo screening offers festival-level visibility that is otherwise difficult to reach from exile.
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