Welcome

Rightly so, Lioret's film 'Welcome' confronts us with a changing Europe, from one which used to be tolerant to the less-fortunate into one dominated by fear, exclusion and self-righteousness. The anonymous setting of the port of Calais - exchangeable with Dover, Bari or Tarifa or any other border town in Europe – and the hauntingly introvert piano score add to the growing hostilities towards refugees in Europe. The two main characters are, each in their own way, equally tragic: Bilal, a 17-year-old refugee from Kurdistan, in desperately pursuing an impossible dream, and Simon, a disappointed middle-aged French swimming instructor, in not being able to cling onto that dream. The friendship and the actual drama begin when they first meet in a local pool. So far so good. Regrettably, and perhaps regrettably, Lioret diminishes the intensity of this relationship by wanting to provide too many answers to too many irrelevant questions. The result is that story lines, actions and ultimately even the characters become blurred and incredible, which is a great sorrow to inflict on a topic of this social magnitude. One only wishes a little more Dardenne-style type of filming in this film! The strength of 'Welcome' is that is requires us to reconsider to what extent we are willing to be human, social and forgiving towards 'the other' in an ever-harshening world. By examining the attitudes of the shop manager, the neighbour and the bureaucrat, we are eventually confronted with ourselves. 'Welcome' is certainly not an easy film but a highly desirable one.

I am a judge for the Indianapolis-based Heartland Film Festival. This feature film is a Crystal Heart Award Winner and is eligible to be the Grand Prize Winner in October of 2009. The Heartland Film Festival is a non-profit that honors Truly Moving Pictures. A Truly Moving Picture "…explores the human journey by artistically expressing hope and respect for the positive values of life."

Bilal is a 17 year-old Kurdish boy from Iraq, who has just taken an arduous, three-month journey to Calais in France desperately trying to get to his girlfriend/fiancée in London. But in Calais he becomes stuck with many other clan-destines or illegal immigrants. These are people without a country. The French won't send them back to the Mid-East because there is a war going on. But they are not welcomed in France because they are clearly illegals. Even the local French people will violate French law if they help these clan-destines.

With this backdrop, Bilal comes up with the idea that he can swim the English Channel to get to his girlfriend. There is only one problem. He can't swim. He goes to a middle-aged French swim instructor, Simon, who not only teaches him how to swim, but also befriends him. Simon has his own problems. He is divorcing his wife and is terribly lonely. Bilal and Simon need each other and form a strangely beautiful symbiotic relationship.

This is a quiet and powerful statement on the individual courage and sacrifice of normal human beings. Bilal and Simon are single-minded in trying to do the right thing and will not be put off their objective. This is a very moving film that haunts you afterwords. It does not take a stand on legal or illegal immigration. It merely shows that these clan-destines are human like the rest of us and have their own stories.

FYI – There is a Truly Moving Pictures web site where there is a listing of past Truly Moving Picture Award winners that are now either at the theater or available on video.

An outstanding film! The history is very believable, the life of clandestine as in documentary, a very responsible cinema! And the actors all are excellent! It is sometimes necessary, in our small comfortable life and our well arranged existences, to receive a shock, and that's what came to arrive with shocking film of P.Lioret, which tackles the current and extreme problem of the clandestine. Under terrible conditions, they are ready to risk their being, hoping to create a better future. In addition to the fact that this history is inspired of an actual reality, one can only accept these characters: The swimming coach, splendid in his role; an ordinary man, monopolized in the beginning of the film by his sentimental problems, also by love for the woman who has left him, will take the risk to help in secrecy a young Kurdish refugee, which wants to cross the English Channel by swim. The total lack of humanity from governmental organizations, certainly reduced a little by work of voluntary NGOs, put us vis-à-vis intolerable and unbearable situation that had been forgotten in the West. So I say Merci to Mr. Lioret for this original and humanist film!

When the Kurdish boy Bilal, on the run from war-torn Iraq, is caught trying to cross the border into Englad, he ends up stranding in Calais. Here he meets Simon(in the process of divorcing his wife), who is as taken aback by the 17-year-old's sheer determination to meet back up with his girlfriend, Mira, in London as we are, and agrees to teach him how to swim. Yes, this kid wants to cross the channel. This is about love, the criminalization of refugees and people fighting against seemingly impossible odds. I have yet to watch anything else by this director, but now I will be on the lookout for it. He correctly realizes that this story is powerful enough, and thus does not need any manipulation for us to be deeply affected by it. Everything in this is underplayed, merely showed, and it is absolutely heartbreaking. The music is minimal(that, or it was so subtle that I did not notice it most of the time) and subtle, with only a single use of a tense piece(and it was still not overbearing). Other than that, it consists of a soft, sad piano, a sort of "voice" to the helplessness of the situation. While the young couple are seldom granted even direct communication(it tends to be second-hand), we believe in their deep feelings for one another. The acting is excellent all the way, and the characters are well-written, and like everything else in this, credible. Granted, this only really shows one side to the argument... still, no one in this feels "evil". Another great thing, and one that also helps it be more removed from Hollywood, is that everyone speaks the language that makes sense for the situation. Their native tongue, or English if they're talking to someone who won't otherwise understand them. There is a little sensuality, moderate violence and disturbing content in this. I recommend this to everyone who can comprehend it(maybe no one under 11). 8/10

A really nice piece about the want to reach your new life and your love. I really liked this piece. The acting was very nice and I thought the thematics of the film was interesting.

I liked the way the director used very plain ways to show emotions inside scenes. There were not that much underlining and there was room for the audience to think and gather some pieces.

The music was also very strong. There wasn't too much of it, but the scenes where it was used, It really gave something to the film.

I recommend this film for an adult viewer who is interested in civilizing him/herself. The one thing that dropped my points from 9 to 7 was the length. It was just too long and it was a great crime with this film not to edit all the boring stuff away.