Disunited Nations

Disunited Nations

DISUNITED NATIONS
The UN and the Middle East
Documentary film premiere + QA with film director and invited panelists!

Film director Christophe Cotteret will be in Finland to screen his latest documentary film at Bio Rex Lasipalatsi on April 17th from 6-9pm.

The discussion after the film will feature director Cotteret and the leading character of the film, Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories (remotely), as well as Finnish MP Mai Kivelä, postdoctoral researcher Antti Tarvainen, and Palestinian author-journalist Randa Al-Dawoudi. The discussion will be moderated by Dr. Nitin Sawhney, filmmaker and docent at Uniarts Helsinki, who has convened the event. The event is co-organised by Refugee Film Festival.

Tickets 10€ / 20€ (optional ticket price, incomes contributed to the film production and UNRWA relief efforts in Gaza). A warm welcome to an urgent and compelling film with insightful discussions!

The film is subtitled in English and the panel language is English. Please also note the event’s age limit is 18 because some alcoholic beverages can be consumed, the film itself does not contain highly distressing scenes.

In March 2024, Francesca Albanese, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, denounced a genocide in Gaza. Following in her footsteps, the documentary takes us to the heart of the UN’s crisis, confronted by its inability to prevent the massacre of civilians. At the height of the international crisis linked to the war in Gaza, the film follows Albanese as she carries out her mandate amid missions, institutional meetings, and political pressure.

Through interviews, archival footage, and a behind-the-scenes look at diplomatic work, the film explores the fragile balance between international law, information, and power, showing how the UN and the global community appear increasingly divided in the face of the conflict.

The United Nations was born in the years when, in 1947, the Partition Plan for Palestine was decided. Today, the Palestinian question risks becoming the ultimate test: can the Organisation hold, or is it in danger of being irreparably weakened by this historical fault line?

Documentary filmmaker and producer Christophe Cotteret, a graduate of FEMIS, works in particular on co-productions with the Franco-German channel ARTE and the Belgian channel RTBF. Specialising in issues of political violence and geopolitics in the Maghreb and Middle East, he has directed Démocratie Année Zéro (2013), Inkotanyi (2017), Anatomie d’une instruction (2022), and White Power (2024).