We Are One: A Global Film Festival

Overview

There's little that's normal about 2020 so far, and that includes film festivals. Many of the biggest cinema showcases on the annual international calendar have been forced to cancel, postpone or rethink their plans for this year — spanning heavy hitters such as Tribeca Film Festival and Cannes Film Festival, and even Australia's very own Sydney Film Festival.

At present, we can't all gather in a darkened room and watch movie magic light up the silver screen. That doesn't mean that there isn't anything to watch, though. In fact, thanks to We Are One: A Global Film Festival, you can still enjoy a festival experience — one curated by some of the best big-screen events in the world, too — all while sitting on your couch.

For ten days between Thursday, May 29–Sunday, June 7, 20 of the globe's standout film fests are joining forces to program a free online festival, which'll show features, shorts, documentaries and more via YouTube. More than 100 films will screen at set times, including 13 world premieres.

That means that you can look forward to films such as Ricky Powell: The Individualist, about the eponymous street photographer; Eeb Allay Ooo!, a satire about monkey repellers in India; and Crazy World, an OTT action flick out of Uganda's Wakaliwood. There's also Australia's own Mystery Road and Mabo, Japanese rom-com Tremble All You Want and documentary The Iron Hammer, the latter of which follows Chinese volleyball star "Jenny" Lang Ping.

If you're after something more than just watching a movie, a range of archived talks will also screen, alongside new, festival-exclusive content. Listen to chats by Jackie Chan, The Shape of Water filmmaker Guillermo del Toro and Rogue One: A Star War Story's Diego Luna, or watch Tessa Thompson talk with director Jane Campion, Francis Ford Coppola and Steven Soderbergh discuss Apocalypse Now, Viggo Mortensen and David Cronenberg explore Crash, and Ang Lee and Kore-eda Hirokazu delve into their thoughts on filmmaking today.

Selecting the program is a who's who of the film festival game, with Tribeca, Cannes and Sydney joined by the Berlinale, Sundance, Toronto International Film Festival, Venice Film Festival, New York Film Festival, BFI London Film Festival and Annecy International Animation Film Festival — and fests in Guadalajara, Macao, Jerusalem, Mumbai, Karlovy Vary, Locarno, Marrakech, San Sebastian, Sarajevo and Tokyo, too.

Berlinale, Jan Windszus

While cinephiles don't have to spend a cent to watch along, We Are One: A Global Film Festival is encouraging donations to the World Health Organisation, as well its partners in each region.

Top image: Sydney Film Festival, Luke Latty.

Updated May 27.