Los burgueses de Calais

The Crossing

May 2015 •English

A first-hand account of the perilous journey made by a group of Syrian refugees. Traversing land and sea on an old fishing boat manned by smugglers, the nail-biting journey leads to Europe where the refugees disperse. Each must battle to stay sane and create an identity among the maze of regulations and refugee hostels. The Crossing shows us the lengths to which people go to find safety and forge their own destiny.

Ukraine-Poland: The Border of Solidarity

May 2022 •French

Since 24 February 2022, when the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, several million refugees have already been taken in by Poles. In the Lublin region, near the Bug River, which marks the border with Ukraine and Belarus, farmers, shopkeepers, a photographer, and a teacher tell how their daily lives have been transformed by the outbreak of this war.

Sky and Ground

November 2017 •English

Three generations of the Nabi family flee their home in Aleppo and try to make it to safety in Germany where some members of the family have already settled. Along the way they suffer countless setbacks and heartache.

Site 2

November 1989 •English

After having fled Pol Pot, Rithy Panh, a 15 year old Cambodian finds refuge at the Mairut camp in Thailand, in 1979. Ten years later, now a filmmaker, he returns to the camps to film the daily life of this threatened people. The peoples he meets, eaten away by inactivity, insecutity and the fear of being forgotten, have been waiting for a possible return to Cambodia.

Faceless Heroes

July 2012 •English

Brussels, Béguinage church. Migrants organize a hunger strike to obtain papers. A man dies. Tunisia, Libya. A border camp of Choucha refugees tell the horror of crossing the Sahara to the north. Liège. In a refugee center, a man narrates his Mediterranean crossing in a chamber of air. Three moments of a battle for survival.

Aya

April 2021 •English

In a town near Calais that looks like the Wild West, big-hearted 50-year-old Lydie shelters Zimako, an unruly, paperless migrant from Togo.

Cinema Dadaab

September 2018 •Somali

In one of the world's largest and oldest refugee camps, Dadaab, the inhabitans survive by watching films and dreaming. The refugees cannot leave the camp, but they let their minds escape the harsh reality: by going to the simple cinema hall run by Abdikafi Mohamed, the film's protagonist.

Beyond Utopia

October 2023 •English

A courageous pastor uses his underground network to rescue and aid North Korean families as they risk their lives to embrace freedom.

Route 4

November 2021 •German

Draussen bleiben

October 2007 •German

Kwassa Kwassa

January 2015 •English

The construction of a boat on the island of Anjouan, used to transport migrants over 70km to the island of Mayotte – the outermost region of the European Union.

Les poussières de Daech

September 2020 •French

Youssef, a young Quebecer of Moroccan origin, became radicalized and joined the ranks of Daesh in Syria. In the midst of the shelling, he and his wife had a baby. What will happen to the child?

Jelena: Unbreakable

Invalid date •English

The remarkable story of Jelena Dokic – an elite tennis star who beat the best in the world with a mental toughness few could match. Jelena survived the turmoil of being a refugee, the pressure of centre court, and the burden of a volatile father.

Wann wird es endlich wieder Sommer

February 2018 •German

As You Dreamt It

January 2015 •English

A leading Australian photographer interprets and photographs the recurring dreams of four refugees living on a housing estate in western Sydney with both moving and highly surprising results.

När världen kom till Ronneby

January 2022 •Swedish

With the refugee influx in 2015, Ronneby gained 3,000 new inhabitants and the schools 1,000 new students. Tom Alandh traveled to Ronneby to find out how this has affected society and its inhabitants and their real and perceived security.

Men Who Have Lost Their Roots

January 1956 •French

Hungarian refugees in Austrian camps after the failed revolution in Budapest.

Asylum

January 1998 •English

This feature documentary follows three newly arrived people in Canada and their experiences with the Canadian Refugee process. As claims are assessed and paperwork is double checked, we begin to examine exactly who can be considered a refugee.

Mirage

September 2020 •Italian

Mali - Algeria - Libya - Italy. Issa’s escape from West Africa to the European mainland lasted ten years. Everything was supposed to be better here. But when he arrived in Rome, the only thing waiting for the young man was a life of homelessness and unemployment – which meant no money to send home. Drissa and Sekou share a similar fate, waiting in Italian asylum centres for a residence permit. Then there’s Bubu, who, forced to move from job to job, is unable to settle down. And lastly comes Alassane, who lives without identity papers in a state of constant uncertainty in a refugee camp near Rome. They all have one thing in common: after a gruelling odyssey, none of them has found the Italy they were hoping for when they arrived. Disillusioned, they find themselves in a vacuum of waiting, reflecting on the time they live in and the time that lies ahead.

Becoming American

February 1984 •English

Hang Sou and his family, preliterate tribal farmers, await resettlement in a refugee camp in Thailand after fleeing their war-consumed native Laos. "Becoming American" records their odyssey as they travel to and resettle in the United States. As they face nine months of intense culture shock, prejudice, and gradual adaptation to their new home in Seattle, the family provides a rare insight into refugee resettlement and cultural diversity issues.