Blanchett’s Displacement Film Fund Screens First Shorts in Tokyo

The first five short films supported by Cate Blanchett’s Displacement Film Fund screened at the Tokyo International Film Festival on October 30. Blanchett joined the fund’s leaders, Shahrbanoo Sadat and Mohammad Rasoulof, for a discussion after the screening.

The films are Rotation by Maryna Er Gorbach, Super Afghan Gym by Sadat, Allies in Exile by Hasan Kattan, Whispers of a Burning Scent by Mo Harawe and Sense of Water by Rasoulof. The fund supports filmmakers who have experienced displacement or have a record of telling authentic stories about it.

During the discussion, Sadat and Rasoulof resisted the idea of creating a distinct Oscar category for displaced filmmakers. Sadat said she did not want to be defined by that label. Rasoulof said his priority was making films and bringing people closer, adding that separate categories could sometimes create problems.

Blanchett welcomed the Academy’s rule change allowing exiled filmmakers to qualify for Oscars, saying it recognized the disruptions artists face amid wars and conflicts. She said the five films had screened in Los Angeles for Academy qualification, with another screening planned in New York in mid-November.

Rasoulof’s film follows an exiled Iranian writer struggling to learn the language of his new home. Sadat’s short portrays Afghan women gathering at a Kabul gym during the hour reserved for women. She said she wanted to explore pressures that leave people feeling uncomfortable in their bodies.

Blanchett launched the fund in 2025, with the International Film Festival Rotterdam’s Hubert Bals Fund managing it. A second cohort of filmmakers is making films, and the Tokyo festival continues through November 4.