Global online film festival to bring together 21 international events

A global online film festival will bring together 21 of the world’s biggest celebrations of cinema, including Cannes, Venice, Sundance, Toronto and the BFI London Film Festival.

We Are One will include the online premiere of documentary Ricky Powell: The Individualist – about the street photographer of the same name, and featuring Natasha Lyonne and LL Cool J – as well as the global premiere of Third Eye Blind’s Motorcycle Drive By, and talks including Francis Ford Coppola with
Steven Soderbergh.

The digital festival, which will take place on YouTube, will feature more than 100 films, including 13 world premieres, as well as talks, VR content and a DJ set from Questlove.

The film industry has been devastated by the coronavirus crisis and the Cannes film festival has been cancelled as a result.

The Venice film festival has announced it will go ahead in September but the prospects for other festivals remains unclear.

The online celebration will include the world premiere of Iron Hammer, a documentary directed by Joan Chen about Chinese Olympic volleyball star Jenny Lang Ping and the world premiere of Losing Alice, an Israeli psychological TV thriller.

It will also feature And She Could Be Next, a two-part documentary series on the experiences of women from ethnic minorities running for office, including Stacey Abrams and Rashida Tlaib.

The festival will also host talks archived from past festivals and new discussions, including Parasite star Song Kang-ho and director Bong Joon-ho, and directors Guillermo del Toro, Jane Campion and Claire Denis.

Jane Rosenthal, CEO of Tribeca Film Festival and Tribeca Enterprises, which has co-ordinated the event, said: “We are so excited to share the combined efforts of our festival partners and YouTube with the world this week.

“Together, we were able to curate a compelling slate of programming that succinctly reflects the subtle variations in style that make each festival so special.

“We Are One: A Global Film Festival will offer audiences an opportunity to not only celebrate the art of film, but the unique qualities that make each story we watch so memorable.

“One of the beautiful things about films and other visual content is the ability to tell stories and bring people together, no matter where they live or where they’re from.”

Tricia Tuttle, director of the BFI London Film Festival, said: “We wanted to focus on two things that have great power to unite people across the world – film and music.

“Here we present two silent films, Shiraz and The Epic of Everest, restored by our colleagues at the BFI National Archive with richly evocative, newly commissioned scores from contemporary musicians – Anoushka Shankar and Simon Fisher Turner.

“These archive gems sit alongside a short film programme of emerging UK filmmakers who are busy now developing on the great promise of these works.

“We also present Rudeboy, a documentary about the UK’s Trojan records, behind many 60s reggae, ska and rocksteady hits, from Desmond Dekker to The Maytals.

“In these challenging times, there are many people struggling and We Are One is an opportunity for us to come together through our love of film, art and music to reach out and support each other.”

Audiences will be able to donate to Covid-19 relief efforts through a donate button or link on every film page.

The festival will run on YouTube from May 29 to June 7 at YouTube.com/WeAreOne.