Welcome

Movie: Welcome (2009/I)

“Bilal is 17 years old, a Kurdish boy from Iraq. He sets off on an adventure-filled journey across Europe. He wants to get to England to see his love who lives there. Bilal finally reaches Calais, but how do you cover 32 kilometers of the English Channel when you can’t swim? The boy soon discovers that his trip won’t be as easy as he imagined… The community of struggling illegal aliens in Calais is captured with authenticity, from the point of view of people who arrived there knowing nothing about France. This immigrant drama, with wonderful performances by the actors, is a strong story which uses documentary austerity and minimalist style to create a great emotional impact. Written by Warsaw Film Festival”

• Director: Philippe Lioret
• Release Date:
  11 March 2009 (France)
• Run Time:
  France:110 min
• Country: France
• Genre: Drama

Goofs: Factual errors: When Simon finds Mina in London, in the background is a sign for “Elephant and Castle Shopping Center” – in British English, the spelling “centre” would be used.