If you say that events, stories, or scenes unfurl before you, you mean that you are aware of them or can see them as they happen or develop. as the dramatic changes in Europe continue to unfurl. = unfold. if a flag, sail etc unfurls, or if someone unfurls it, it unrolls and opens
If you unfurl something rolled or folded such as an umbrella, sail, or flag, you open it, so that it is spread out. You can also say that it unfurls. Once outside the inner breakwater, we began to unfurl all the sails. two weeks later when the leaves unfurl