“You Never Know One Day You Too Might Become a Refugee” – Film Screening

Date: 30 June 2025

Time: 18:00 CEST

Location: Auditorium Ivan Pictet B, Geneva Graduate Institute, Maison de la Paix, Geneva.

RSVP NOW – Link to registration page

“You Never Know One Day You Too Might Become A Refugee,” is a thought-provoking film by artists Lena Dobrowolska and Teo Ormond-Skeaping. It isn’t only a movie; it’s a window into the realities of disaster displacement and climate change.

This event is a chance to:

• Witness the human and emotional side of disaster displacement through the film’s narrative.
• Engage with visionaries and experts: Join a panel discussion with the award-winning filmmakers, Lena Dobrowolska & Teo Ormond-Skeaping, alongside experts from IOM and UNHCR, moderated by Professor Walter Kaelin, PDD’s Envoy of the Chair.
• Spark dialogue: Dive into a meaningful conversation about the role of art in inspiring imaginative solutions and creative thinking for policy responses to disaster displacement.

About the Film

Set in 2043, the film portrays a family’s displacement from a fictional island in Europe to a refugee detention center. The story of the family’s displacement is told by the protagonist to an official throughout a resettlement interview, which will determine whether the family will be accepted into a progressive climate displacement resettlement scheme in an unknown country in the Global South.

Meet the Filmmakers: Lena Dobrowolska (born in 1985, Poland) & Teo Ormond-Skeaping (born in 1987, United Kingdom) work together in an artist collaboration with photography, documentary and narrative film, virtual reality, installation and research. Their collaborative practice explores climate change, including its political ecology, loss and damage, climate-induced migration, slow violence and visual culture’s relationship to the Anthropocene, something which they call the Capitalocene. The duo are the recipients of numerous awards including The Culture and Climate Change: Scenarios Networked Residency (2016). Their work has been exhibited internationally at galleries and museums including: Noorderlicht Festival of Photography (2019), and Kunst HausWien: Museum Hundertwasser (2019).

A Moment of Reflection

This special screening takes place during a significant year for the Platform on Disaster Displacement (PDD), as we mark 10 years since the endorsement of the Nansen Initiative Agenda for the Protection of Cross-Border Displaced Persons in the Context of Disasters and Climate Change (Protection Agenda/NIPA) by over 100 governmental delegations, and reflect about ongoing global commitment to protecting those forced to leave their homes in the context of disasters and climate change.

This event is part of the broader 10-year NIPA commemoration and reflects ongoing global commitment to protecting those displaced in the context of disasters and climate change. It will leverage partnerships and showcase effective practices, including those that increase understanding of the human and emotional side of disaster displacement, inspire imaginative commitments to address it, and encourage creative thinking about policy solutions.

It’s also the occasion of the Government of Kenya passing the PDD Chairmanship to the Government of Costa Rica on 1 July 2025 – a symbol of continued dedication to addressing disaster displacement. Hear from both the outgoing and incoming PDD Chairs as they set the stage for the evening.

What to Expect

• Opening Remarks: From the Permanent Representative of Kenya (outgoing PDD Chair) and the Permanent Representative of Costa Rica (incoming PDD Chair).
• Film Screening: “You Never Know One Day You Too Might Become A Refugee”
• Expert Panel Discussion: Featuring the filmmakers, IOM & UNHCR representatives, and Professor Walter Kaelin.
• Networking: Conclude the evening with complimentary snacks and drinks, fostering further discussion and connections.

Partners:

• Permanent Mission of the Republic of Kenya to the UN Office in Geneva and Chair of the PDD
• International Organization for Migration (IOM)
• United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)