Birth on the border(2018)

The Flood(en)

The decision to move to Holland doesn't sound like a wise idea. Why move to a country that could be flooded at any moment? For the last 25 years, the political climate has shifted. The public debate on migration has become harsher, more heated, and polarized. What would have been considered right-wing xenophobia back then, is now considered mainstream. Populists simplify complex realities into good and evil, victims and perpetrators: ‘us’ versus ‘them’. Their rhetoric often consists of dehumanizing words and metaphors. One of these is ‘water’. In reality, water is not an immediate threat to the average Dutch person; but it is a huge threat to the thousands trying to reach the Netherlands. People trying to survive the Mediterranean Sea in rubber boats. Trying to survive winter on the Aegean coast in primitive tents. To them, water really is deadly.

Stuttgart Shanghai(en)

A young pair from Stuttgart fly to Shanghai to hop aboard the textile business of his father while she prepares for the birth of their son. A story about the ever more common movement of Germans into the East for professional gain.

Entre leurs mains(fr)

All You See(en)

What if from one day to the next, you’re no longer seen, but instead are stared at? The leading characters in this multi-layered film have ended up in a new world where suddenly nothing seems to align. In their new lives in the Netherlands, they unintentionally provoke reactions on a daily basis. Even after many years, they still hear the same questions over and over again: where are you from, do you speak Dutch, do you tan in the sun?

From Mexico to Vietnam: a Chicano story(en)

This film tells the story of Jesus Duran, who immigrated from Mexico at a young age, and did his military service in Vietnam where, through a heroic act, he saved his platoon, and was awarded a posthumous medal of honor in 2014.

America; I Too(en)

Three arrested and detained undocumented immigrants must navigate the system to fight impending deportation.

A letter to Nikola(el)

As a letter to her son, the filmmaker testifies her experience as a photographer aboard the Aquarius, a ship that rescued 29,523 people in the Mediterranean between 2016 and 2018.

In The Womb(en)

In The Womb is a 2005 National Geographic Channel documentary that focus on studying and showing the development of the embryo in the uterus. The show makes extensive use of Computer-generated imagery to recreate the real stages of the process.

New Ways(en)

This film focuses on the basics of adapting to life in England.

Wetback: The Undocumented Documentary(en)

Filmmaker Arturo Perez Torres follows in the footsteps of two friends traveling on an extraordinary and extremely dangerous journey from Central America to North America. On their journey they encounter gangs and vigilantes as well as border patrol. But these immigrants navigate real-life nightmares with uncanny calm, grace and even humor in their perilous pursuit of the a better life.

From Abdul To Leila(fr)

After losing part of her memory in an accident, Leila, a young French woman of Iraqi origin, reconstructs her story by reconnecting with her family and exploring her roots. Through music and cinema, she brings her exiled father's poems to lite, dis-covers the reality of the Middle East, and embarks on a personal quest to understand her identity and find her voice.

La Vie sans Brahim(fr)

In the Shadows(en)

This documentary by Dan Glynn follows the personal story of Jairo, a hard-working Mexican who immigrates to the US in order to find work to support his family back in Mexico. The film looks at current immigration issues in the United States. The story takes a dramatic turn, when Jairo's cousin is arrested by local police putting the entire family in danger of deportation. In the movie we meet numerous people who want to stem the tide of immigration from Mexico as well as people who help those who make the long, arduous journey to new employment in the United States.

Vi Ses Snart(sv)

When Ader Ismail fled from Somalia to Sweden, she thought it would not take long for her five children to join her. But the years go by and the children get rejection after rejection from the Swedish Migration Board. Ader unable to reveal this to her children. She just tells them: "See you soon!". Video journalist Clary Kroon follows Aders' struggle and tries to understand her decision. She also meets Aders' children who live as refugees in Nairobi, thousands of miles from their mother.

A Hero's Death(de)

It was the biggest escape in the history of the Berlin Wall: in one historic night of October 1964, 57 East-Berliners try their luck through a tunnel into West Berlin. Just before the last few reach the other side, the East German border guards notice the escape and open fire. Remarkably, all the refugees and their escape agents make it out of the tunnel unscathed, but one border guard is dead: 21-year-old officer Egon Schultz.

Four Passports(sr)

The film is a story of immigration and identity after the dissolution of former Yugoslavia, as seen through the eyes of filmmaker Mihajlo Jevtic. It follows the period of transition of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia into today's Serbia and Mihajlo's transition from a child into a middle aged man. It is a film made by a man who is about to leave his country for good and about the contents of his immigrant's suitcase. Story about one country and four passports, a farewell that was in the making for 25 years. Combining the present-day footage, his family's Super 8 home videos and animation, Mihajlo reflects on growing up in a society that has been falling apart.

The Homes We Carry(de)

Hammer and compass in Mozambique. We see a GDR flag waved at a rally in Maputo, carried by "Madgermanes", contract workers who once toiled in eastern Germany. Some of them founded families there, like Eulidio. His daughter Sarah grows up with her mother in Berlin. The relationship with her "second home" is slow in growing, partly thanks to Luana, Sarah's baby, whose father, Eduardo is also from Mozambique.

Ion(fr)

My name is Ion. Who could have imagined the fate that awaited me: my birth under the Romanian dictatorship, the loss of my eyesight through an accident, my sudden escape from my homeland to seek a future that was a little too idyllic? One thing is certain: fate is like all the criminals that I listen to today for the Belgian federal police. With a little willpower, there is always a way to dodge its tricks. The person who taught me that is a close and loyal childhood friend. That friend is literature. Without her, I probably would not be what I am now, here, among you.

Aan ons den arbeid(en)

Documentary that shows the changing attitude towards immigrant labor in The Netherlands. The documentary follows three immigrants that arrived in Holland 30 years ago to work in a bakery.

Visions of Europe(en)

Twenty-five films from twenty-five European countries by twenty-five European directors.