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Welcome

  • 2009
  • Tous publics
  • 1h 50m
IMDb RATING
7.5/10
7.7K
YOUR RATING
Welcome (2009)
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?
Play trailer2:06
2 Videos
10 Photos
Drama

Bilal sets off on an adventure-filled journey across Europe and wants to get to England to see his love who lives there.Bilal sets off on an adventure-filled journey across Europe and wants to get to England to see his love who lives there.Bilal sets off on an adventure-filled journey across Europe and wants to get to England to see his love who lives there.

  • Director
    • Philippe Lioret
  • Writers
    • Philippe Lioret
    • Emmanuel Courcol
    • Olivier Adam
  • Stars
    • Vincent Lindon
    • Firat Ayverdi
    • Audrey Dana
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    7.5/10
    7.7K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Philippe Lioret
    • Writers
      • Philippe Lioret
      • Emmanuel Courcol
      • Olivier Adam
    • Stars
      • Vincent Lindon
      • Firat Ayverdi
      • Audrey Dana
    • 49User reviews
    • 72Critic reviews
    • 61Metascore
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 13 wins & 19 nominations total

    Videos2

    Welcome
    Trailer 2:06
    Welcome
    Welcome: Your Friends, They Don't Come Back (French)
    Clip 0:41
    Welcome: Your Friends, They Don't Come Back (French)
    Welcome: Your Friends, They Don't Come Back (French)
    Clip 0:41
    Welcome: Your Friends, They Don't Come Back (French)

    Photos9

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    Top cast62

    Edit
    Vincent Lindon
    Vincent Lindon
    • Simon Calmat
    Firat Ayverdi
    • Bilal
    Audrey Dana
    Audrey Dana
    • Marion Calmat
    Derya Ayverdi
    • Mina
    Thierry Godard
    Thierry Godard
    • Bruno
    Mehmet Selim Akgul
    • Zoran
    • (as Selim Akgül)
    Firat Çelik
    Firat Çelik
    • Koban
    Murat Subasi
    • Mirko
    Olivier Rabourdin
    Olivier Rabourdin
    • Lieutenant Caratini
    Yannick Renier
    Yannick Renier
    • Alain
    Mouafaq Rushdie
    • Le père de Mina
    Behi Djanati Atai
    Behi Djanati Atai
    • La mère de Mina
    • (as Behi Djanati Ataï)
    Patrick Ligardes
    Patrick Ligardes
    • Le voisin de Simon
    Jean-Pol Brissart
    Jean-Pol Brissart
    • Le juge
    Blandine Pélissier
    • La juge aux affaires familiales
    Éric Herson-Macarel
    • Le policier du centre de rétention
    • (as Eric Herson-Macarel)
    Gilles Masson
    Gilles Masson
    • Le gradé du centre de rétention
    Emmanuel Courcol
    Emmanuel Courcol
    • Le directeur du supermarché
    • Director
      • Philippe Lioret
    • Writers
      • Philippe Lioret
      • Emmanuel Courcol
      • Olivier Adam
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews49

    7.57.7K
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    Featured reviews

    8markedasread

    Unpleasant take on modern refugee policy

    In Philippe Lioret's latest film Welcome the title is obviously a contradiction, but the meaning of the contradiction itself is just as obvious. It's about illegal aliens in Europe, in this specific film narrowed down to Calais in France. And they are certainly not welcome.

    Pic holds an unsettling tone throughout. While story lines tend to diverge, it's reminiscent of Ulrich Seidl's Import/Export in that it tells a story about people in motion in contemporary Europe. People whose conditions were bad from their take-off point, but becomes nonexistent in the grand, boarder-less EU. The limitations with this modern refugee policy of EU is that it only benefits our own. This is all old news for Lioret's protagonist Bilal (Firat Ayverdi) who comes from war-torn Iraq. His journey to Calais where the story begins has been long and painful, and the way to his love in London seems to stretch far beyond the horizon for the seventeen year old refugee.

    These are harsh times, Lioret proclaims through images of a port district infested with immigrants, battering cops and even authorities that manifest a despicable manner not only towards refugees but just as well to people trying to help them. One of them is Simon (Vincent Lindon), a disgraced ex-champion in swimming. He seeks atonement in Bilal for his previous mistakes in life and the two becomes committed to each other. But in these harsh times nothing is certain and struggle lays ahead for both of them.

    Philippe Lioret covers pretty much the whole lot of it. Each of his characters carries around on fear, despair, desires, love, longings and struggle. It is classic ingredients taken from the ordinary lives of those immigrants. In Welcome, however, it blends well with the non-immigrants as well. It is something they have to live with constantly, but something that is exposed to us at times as well. It is indeed an unpleasant take on modern refugee policy, but it is nevertheless a necessary take.
    10swissmixz

    Welcome...

    The noun's meaning: a cordial greeting or hospitable reception given upon arrival; as well as its verb and adjective are horribly absent in Calais.

    The crossing of the Channel is a treacherous endeavor for asylum seekers and illegal immigrants. The Channel Passers charge an arm and a leg (with little to no regards for safety conditions) for their clandestine operations. If caught asylum seekers and illegal immigrants are processed, tried, and sentenced to a life in limbo.

    Their status allows them to stay in Calais but they are unwelcome and not allowed crossover to the Promised Land. Social workers are kept under careful watch and harassed by the authorities.

    It is illegal to welcome an asylum seeker in your home. Jail time is awarded to good souls.

    From Calais; when the fog clears, you can catch a glimpse the white cliffs of Dover: 34 km of rough waters to reach the Promised Land. By boat it takes 35 minutes to cross the Channel. By swimming… the world record was set at 6 hours and 57 minutes by a professional swimmer.

    After traveling over 3000 km; from Iraq to France, Bilal; a Kurdish refugee, will attempt to crossover the Channel, by any means necessary.

    This is a beautiful but devastating movie that will haunt your nights and dog your days.

    Simply put: it is a must.
    7Nagi4

    Emotional, but long

    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.
    9amir_rayatnazari

    An original and humanist film

    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!
    8yris2002

    Thought-provoking and moving picture on human solidarity and affection

    After watching this movie in an almost desert movie theatre I was overwhelmed by sadness, but after reflecting upon it, I could discover very positive feelings and a very interesting view of the theme handled. What I liked most is the idea of intertwining the story of human solidarity between Bilal and Simon with the also deep relationship between Simon and his wife Marion. I intended the movie truly thought-provoking in the way it manages to make one reflect on the concept of the "other", who is not only the distant, unknown one, and on the idea that human solidarity begins with those who live with us or near us day after day. Marion is so animated by the need to help the poor, abandoned clandestines, that she has in turn completely abandoned, physically and psychologically, her husband, to the point of being no longer able to see his truly loving soul. And the sad, moving and intense story between Bilal and Simon will help both to understand the value of human affection, which starts from the nearest ones, leading naturally to the furthest ones. I think this is a very interesting perspective, which goes beyond social denunciation and void criticism of institutions, because it appeals to the conscience of the single man and woman and seems to ask him/her: how much are you ready, in first person, to give to others, to go beyond selfish needs, how much are you able to sympathize with anyone, where anyone is a member of your family, as well as the "anyone" you may meet on the journey of your life? The cast, above all Vincent Lindon and Audrey Dana, are extraordinarily good in the way they manage to speak with conciseness and naturalness to the heart of the viewer. It is a movie which makes one reflect deeply on the reality of the clandestines (with which each European citizen and authority have to come to terms daily, without often finding certain and respectful attitudes) but more deeply on the very essence of human affection. A must see.

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The neighbor of Simon who rats him out to the police, has a doormat with the word 'Welcome' printed on it.
    • Goofs
      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.
    • Quotes

      Marion Calmat: Know what barring people from shops means? Want me to buy you a history-book?

    • Connections
      Spoofed in Chashme Baddoor (2013)
    • Soundtracks
      Migrants
      by Nicola Piovani

      © 2009 Nord Ouest

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    FAQ

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • March 11, 2009 (France)
    • Country of origin
      • France
    • Official sites
      • Film Movement (United States)
      • Official site (Australia)
    • Languages
      • French
      • Kurdish
      • English
      • Turkish
    • Also known as
      • Hoşgeldiniz
    • Filming locations
      • Calais, Pas-de-Calais, France(main location)
    • Production companies
      • Nord-Ouest Films
      • Studio 37
      • France 3 Cinéma
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross worldwide
      • $13,578,009
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 50 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • DTS
      • Dolby Digital
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.35 : 1

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