Following its world premiere at the 2022 BFI London Film Festival, the inspirational documentary Name Me Lawand, directed by Edward Lovelace (The Possibilities Are Endless), will be released by BFI Distribution in UK and Irish cinemas on 7 July 2023. The film will have a preview screening at BFISouthbank – followed by a panel discussion – and in selected regional cinemas during Refugee Week (19 to 25 June 2023).

Lawand is a young Kurdish boy, deaf since birth. At five years old his future in Iraq looks destined to be limited and lonely. In desperate search of a better life in a world where he can communicate, his family decide to leave their home. After a treacherous journey and a year in a refugee camp, the help of a deaf volunteer brings them to Derby where Lawand joins the Royal School for the Deaf. As he grows older, the film follows his dramatic progress learning British Sign Language, revealing a bright, charismatic and inquisitive boy, who discovers friendship and a new way to express himself. But just as Lawand is joyfully finding his place in the world, the family face deportation from the UK.

Ahead of the UK-wide release on 7 July, there will be a preview of Name Me Lawand followed by a discussion with Edward Lovelace and Steve Crump, OBE, founder and chair of DeafKidz International, and the volunteer who discovered Lawand in the refugee camp in Dunkirk. Taking place on Tuesday 20 June at 18.10 in NFT1, BFI Southbank, the preview is presented in partnership with Counterpoint Arts as part of Refugee Week. Through the arts, culture and education, Refugee Week aims to create spaces where the contributions of refugees are celebrated, people from different communities enjoy positive encounters and refugee experiences are shared and understood in new ways.