UNIVERSAL KIDS FILM FESTIVAL 2021

The Universal Kids Film Festival in Istanbul Turkey (UKFF), is an annual event that is slowly but surely making an indelible mark among Turkish kids not because of its size or great fanfares, but for its tenacity in advocating peace. Accordingly, films which are appropriate for children and youth are chosen and all corollary activities are planned within this advocacy One very unique feature of the festival is the ‘Peace Carpet’ which is spread out every year to drum up awareness and involvement of everyone in the advocacy for Peace. The Peace Carpet is composed of two long strips of cloth, one white and the other black. These are usually spread out at the entrance of the festival’s main venue. Visitors are encouraged to sign on the white cloth to affirm their support for Peace and walk on the black cloth to protest against war. Contrary to the usual red carpet that welcomes luminaries and dignitaries to film festivals, the UKFF welcomes its visitors with its black and white carpets that engages everyone in an interactive performance for Peace. The founder of the festival, Rowena Martinez Ulayan, a Filipino artist based in Turkey who strongly advocates Peace says: We create to inspire, we inspire to create Peace for an inspired society will never create war. With this guiding principle, the festival brings a torchlight of hope to an otherwise war-torn region.