Event
New York
8 June 2026

Who owns the narrative?

Across newsrooms, stages, screens, and funding tables, a growing movement is reshaping how migration and displacement are understood. Join The New Humanitarian for an evening of film and conversation exploring what it looks like when people at the heart of these stories lead the telling — and how that shift can influence the systems that shape their lives.

Join us to mark The New Humanitarian’s US launch.

The evening will feature a conversation chaired by TNH Migration Editor Eric Reidy, with:

Bridgit Antoinette Evans

Artist, culture change strategist, and CEO of the Pop Culture Collaborative

Arian Moayed

Actor, writer, and director; co-founder of Waterwell

Mazin Sidahmed

Co-Founder and Executive Director, Documented

Annie Slemrod

Journalist, storyteller, and Middle East Editor at The New Humanitarian

The event explores how migration and displacement stories are shaped across journalism, culture, and public discourse — and what changes when the people most affected lead the storytelling.

Programme

Programme

6:30pm EDT (New York time) — Doors open & refreshments
6:45–8:00pm EDT — Welcome, film screening, panel discussion & Q&A
8:00–8:30pm EDT — Closing reception with refreshments

Guest speakers

Bridgit Antoinette Evans — Artist, culture change strategist, and CEO of the Pop Culture Collaborative
Arian Moayed — Actor, writer, and director; co-founder of Waterwell
Mazin Sidahmed — Co-Founder and Executive Director, Documented
Annie Slemrod — Journalist, storyteller, and Middle East Editor at The New Humanitarian

Film screening

We are pleased to include a screening of We Were the Scenery during this programme.

Filmed on location in Vietnam, the Philippines, and Long Beach, California, We Were the Scenery is a short documentary based on the experiences of writer Cathy Linh Che’s parents, two Vietnam War refugees who, while in a refugee camp in the Philippines, were utilised as background extras in Apocalypse Now.

Shortlisted for the 98th Academy Awards for Best Documentary Short Film, We Were the Scenery premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2025, where it won the Short Film Jury Prize for Nonfiction. It has also been selected for the 2025 DOC NYC Short List and is a 2026 Cinema Eye Honors nominee.

Film details:
We Were the Scenery / 2025 / U.S.A. & Canada / Director: Christopher Radcliff / Writer and Producer: Cathy Linh Che / Producer & Cinematographer: Jess X. Snow / Runtime: 15 minutes / Vietnamese with English subtitles

Refreshments

Refreshments will be provided by Cardamom & Rose Catering, who support newly resettled Afghan refugee women while showcasing Afghan cuisine across the NYC/Jersey City area.

Partnership

Presented in partnership with the New York Office of the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation.

Listen to the conversation we had here:

Event details

Location	New York
Date	8 June 2026
Time	6:30pm EDT
Address	Victor Borge Hall, Scandinavia House, 58 Park Avenue, NY

Presented by The New Humanitarian in partnership with the New York Office of the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation.