The Stanford Film Society will host the 16th annual United Nations Association Film Festival this month in Palo Alto, Stanford, East Palo Alto and San Francisco.

The overlaying theme for the festival this season is “Individual to Universal”.On Oct. 17, three opening films will be screened at the Aquarius theater in downtown Palo Alto.

Founded by Jasmina Bojic, a Stanford educator and film critic, UNAFF recognizes the influential abilities of film, and chooses documentaries that can appropriately wield that power. The festival is one of the oldest of its kind that exclusively exhibits documentaries.