A coalition of A-list international film festivals including Cannes, Venice, London, Toronto, Berlin, Sundance and Tokyo has partnered with YouTube on a free online spring festival produced and organised by Tribeca Enterprises to raise funds for Covid-19 relief.

We Are One

Source: Tribeca Enterprises

We Are One: A Global Film Festival will run from May 29 to June 7 and feature programming of new and classic films from 20 festivals. Tribeca Enterprises and YouTube announced the event in support of the World Health Organization and regional relief partners on Monday (April 27).

Curating festival partners in addition to the aforementioned organisations include Annecy, Guadalajara, Macao, Jerusalem, Mumbai, Karlovy Vary, Locarno, Marrakech, New York, San Sebastian, Sarajevo, Sydney and Tribeca.

We Are One: A Global Film Festival will screen at YouTube.com/WeAreOne and includes features, documentaries, shorts, music, comedy and conversations. A full schedule will be available closer to the start date.

Screen understands the programme will comprise films that either played at participating festivals in previous years or those that did not receive wide exposure to a global audience. It will not be a platform for new work that could get world premiere slots at upcoming major festivals.

Audiences will be able to make donations via YouTube’s ‘Donate’ feature, with money raised to benefit the World Health Organization Covid-19 Solidarity Response Fund.

“We often talk about film’s uniquely powerful role in inspiring and uniting people across borders and differences to help heal the world,” said Tribeca Enterprises and Tribeca Film Festival co-founder and CEO Jane Rosenthal, who alongside Robert De Niro recently sent out a letter to festivals canvassing their support.

“All of the world needs healing right now. We Are One: A Global Film Festival unites curators, artists and storytellers to entertain and provide relief to audiences worldwide. In working with our extraordinary festival partners and YouTube we hope that everyone gets a taste of what makes each festival so unique and appreciates the art and power of film.”

“One of the most unique and inspiring aspects of the world staying home is our ability to come together and experience an event as one, and We Are One: A Global Film Festival is just that,” said Robert Kyncl, chief business officer at YouTube. “Along with Tribeca Enterprises and our incredible partners, we are bringing fans the opportunity to experience the curated programming each of these festivals provides as part of our ten-day long event. It’s an event that’s never been done before and we’re proud to be the home for this fantastic content that is free to fans around the world.”

Cannes Film Festival president Pierre Lescure and general delegate Thierry Frémaux added, “We are proud to join with our partner festivals to spotlight truly extraordinary films and talent, allowing audiences to experience both the nuances of storytelling from around the world and the artistic personalities of each festival.”

News of We Are One: A Global Film Festival emerges shortly after Tribeca Film Festival organisers separately launched a programme of content that would have screened at their cancelled 19th annual festival, which had been scheduled to run from April 15-26. Tribeca heads have told Screen they hope to stage some physical iteration of their annual festival later this year.