This year UNAFF jurors reviewed almost 600 submissions. The final program consists of 60 films from all over the world. To complement the screenings UNAFF partnered with community organizations for six panels on topics such as tribal justice, how fast fashion is polluting our planet, microbes resistant to antibiotics, how time has become money, women’s rights and the confluence of religious belief and medical practice, law enforcement and mental illness, future of borders, campaigns to combat loneliness among the elderly, why prisoners are painting, philanthropy and producing human rights documentaries.

UNAFF gives six awards - UNAFF Grand Jury Award for Best Documentary, UNAFF Grand Jury Award for Best Short Documentary, UNAFF Youth Vision Award, UNAFF Award for Cinematography, UNAFF Award for Editing and UNAFF Visionary Award.

UNAFF has won two WAVE Awards for best promotional trailer and was nominated for a CreaTVe Award. Also, MovieMaker Magazine listed UNAFF twice 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 10th 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. At the occasion of its 20th anniversary UNAFF was awarded a COMMENDATION from the Board of Supervisors of the County of Santa Clara. For the last seventeen years the Mayor of Palo Alto has proclaimed the festival days as UNAFF Week, consistently recognizing the significance that UNAFF has for the community. Also, UNAFF received the Academy Foundation Grant for the UNAFF and Kids program and its Founder and Director received the prestigious UNESCO Fellini Medal.

Through UNAFF and Kids and UNAFF in Schools programs we have devoted our attention to the young, while the wiser among us are addressed by the UNAFF for Seniors program. The UNAFF Panels program provides a platform for some of the best experts addressing challenging topics and our UNAFF Café maintains a steady supply of interesting films and informal discussions. Utilizing already defined public spaces dedicated to diverse interests, our collaboration with libraries through the UNAFF in Libraries program brings together documentary films and the love of books. Our UNAFF Archive offers a plethora of research material for students of film, politics and international relations. UNAFF With Veterans brings documentaries to veterans and their families, while UNAFF Women’s Salon is a forum where women can gather informally for active discussions in a supportive and engaging environment.

Our popular UNAFF Traveling Film Festival 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, Bellevue, Miami, La Crosse, Fryeburg, Denver, Houston, Durham at Duke University, Chapel Hill, New Haven at Yale University, Waukesha at University of Wisconsin, Boston and Cambridge at Harvard University and internationally in Paris, Milan,Venice, Montreal, Belgrade, Phnom Penh and Abu Dhabi. 

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 “IDA” with the memo field “for UNAFF”) to: 

UNAFF

P.O. Box 19369

Stanford, CA 94309

or donate online via our “Donate” button at www.unaff.org.

We hope that the variety of film programs and other related events during UNAFF 2019 will present you with a truly exciting and memorable experience.