Northampton Filmhouse marks Refugee Week with special documentary screening

Northampton Filmhouse will mark the end of Refugee Week 2023 with a special film screening. On Monday 26 June at 6.15pm the town centre cinema will show Edward Lovelace’s inspirational and touching documentary Name Me Lawand, about a young deaf refugee.

Following this preview screening, the Filmhouse will be welcoming the Chair of the Northampton Town of Sanctuary, Cllr Danielle Stone, to speak, along with Dhafer Al Rufaye, an Iraqi refugee and consultant paediatric surgeon.

The film follows five-year-old Lawand on a quest to find a world where there are people like him – people who will understand him. Since birth, Lawand has been profoundly deaf and unable to communicate with those around him. He undertakes a treacherous journey with his family from Iraq to Derby, home of the Royal School for the Deaf. But this new life soon comes under threat when the family face deportation.

Refugee Week is the world’s largest arts and culture festival celebrating the contributions, creativity and resilience of refugees and people seeking sanctuary. Founded in 1998 in the UK and held every year around World Refugee Day on the 20 June, Refugee Week 2023 runs from 19 - 25 June 2023, celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.

Name Me Lawand is being screened in association with Northampton Town of Sanctuary, which is part of the national City of Sanctuary movement, which started in Sheffield in 2004 and now involves over 50 cities and towns. NTOS aims to build a town-wide movement for sanctuary for people seeking asylum or people who are refugees, collaborating with local groups and organisations in Northampton to extend the hand of friendship to those in need. There will be a bucket collection at the screening to help raise funds for the organisation.

Directed by Edward Lovelace, Name Me Lawand is in English, Kurdish and British Sign Language, and is presented with additional descriptive subtitles.

There will be further screenings of the film in August. More information can be found on the cinema’s website, www.northamptonfilmhouse.com and tickets can be booked online or by calling Box Office on 01604 624811. Standard ticket prices are £10.50 with concessions available.