We are delighted to announce the 10th United Nations Association Film Festival. UNAFF, which is now completing its first decade, was originally conceived to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It was created with the help of members of the Stanford Film Society and United Nations Association Midpeninsula Chapter, a grassroots, community-based, nonprofit organization. The 10th UNAFF will be held from October 24-28, 2007 at Stanford University with screenings in San Francisco on October 17 and 18, East Palo Alto on October 19 and San Jose on October 21. The theme for this year is “CAMERA AS WITNESS.”

UNAFF celebrates the power of films dealing with human rights, environmental survival, women’s issues, protection of refugees, homelessness, racism, disease control, universal education, war and peace. Documentaries often elicit a very personal, emotional response that encourages dialogue and action by humanizing global and local problems. To further this goal, UNAFF hosts academics and filmmakers from around the world to discuss the topics in the films with the audience, groups and individuals who are often separated by geography, ethnicity and economic constraints.

Over three hundred sixty submissions from all over the world have been carefully reviewed for the tenth annual UNAFF. The jury has selected 32 films to be presented at this year’s festival. The documentaries selected showcase topics from Afghanistan, Bolivia, Canada, Chile, China, Croatia, Cuba, France, Haiti, Kenya, Kosovo, Iceland, India, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Iran, Israel, Italy, Lesotho, Macedonia, Mongolia, Nigeria, Norway, Palestine, Peru, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Spain, Sudan, Uganda, the UK, Ukraine, the US, Vietnam and Zambia.

Encouraged by overwhelming positive response from the audience and the media, we established a Traveling Film Festival which has taken place in San Francisco, Berkeley, Monterey, Santa Cruz, Davis, Sonoma, San Diego, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Salt Lake City, Honolulu, Philadelphia, Chicago, Washington DC, New York, New Haven at Yale University, Waukesha at University of Wisconsin, La Crosse, Boston and Cambridge at Harvard University.

UNAFF gives three awards—The Stanford Video Award for Cinematography and The Stanford Video Award for Editing (sponsored by Stanford Video), as well as the UNAFF Grand Jury Award. Our relentless efforts in promoting awareness of global issues have been rewarded at the annual UNA Convention in New York, where UNAFF received the prestigious Earl W. Eames Award for innovatively combining new technologies with traditional media. We are also proud that UNAFF has twice won WAVE Awards for the best trailer.

UNAFF is an independent project of the UNA-USA, a nonprofit organization. We welcome your support, financial or otherwise, in helping us put together a festival that promotes documentary filmmaking as a tool for social and political understanding and which facilitates community participation in effecting international change. By making a tax-deductible donation to UNAFF you will directly give a chance to tens of thousands of people to see these important documentaries 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. All donations are tax deductible.
 
Warmest regards,
Jasmina Bojic, Founder and Executive Director, UNAFF/UNAFF Traveling Film Festival

......................................................

ACCOMMODATIONS:
If you are looking for accommodations during the festival, we urge you to consider The Stanford Terrace Inn, the original premier Palo Alto hotel. As a UNAFF longtime sponsor, The Stanford Terrace Inn have been extremely kind to provide special rates for UNAFF participants and attendees, and we encourage you to visit their web site and take advantage of this wonderful opportunity.
http://www.stanfordterraceinn.com