WINNER Grand Prix Film of the Year 2023 at the Charity Film Awards

Last week we won Grand Prix Film of the Year 2023 at the Charity Film Awards! The Smiley Charity Film Awards is the world’s biggest campaign to promote cause-based films. Representatives from the Welsh Refugee Council attended the event at the Odeon in London’s Leicester Square. You can watch our video here. 

Our film, Wales is a Nation of Sanctuary, was directed by Memet Ali Alabora and produced by b a k. It depicts the devastating impact of the Nationality and Borders Bill as friends, colleagues, and neighbours seemingly ‘vanish’. In contrast, it makes clear that Wales remains a Nation of Sanctuary.   

Wales is a Nation of Sanctuary won the most prestigious award of the night, ‘The Grand Prix Film of the Year 2023’. The award was voted on by 62 judges and the public. We managed to get the nod ahead of much larger charities and organisations.  

At the awards, Memet spoke to The News Movement about refugees in a video with 4.6 million views. You can watch his interview here . “I am a refugee. You may be a refugee; and very soon you may be a refugee anywhere in the world just because of the climate crisis or because of an earthquake. When we discuss about refugees, we think of ‘refugees’ as if they are an abstract figure or statistics. They are not ‘refugees’. They are persons, individual persons.“

Harriet Protheroe Soltani, Head of Communications and Engagement  said – “We can’t believe it! It’s an absolute honour to be given the biggest award of the night. It’s incredibly important that the British public understand the stories and experiences of asylum seekers, we hope this film goes a little way to doing that.”  

“This film is particularly poignant as the UK Governments seeks to pass the Illegal Migration Bill. This Bill will not work and we want to make it clear that Wales remains a Nation of Sanctuary” .