''Welcome'' is a 2009 French film directed by Philippe Lioret. It stars Vincent Lindon and features

Firat Ayverdi Firat Ayverdi is a Kurdish film actor, born in 1990, best known for his lead role as young Bilal in French director Philippe Lioret's film ''Welcome'' about illegal immigration, a film that co-stars French actor Vincent Lindon. In 2010, Ayverdi w ...

and

Derya Ayverdi ''Welcome'' is a 2009 French film directed by Philippe Lioret. It stars Vincent Lindon and features Firat Ayverdi and Derya Ayverdi in their inaugural roles. The film was released on 11 March 2009 in France. The director wanted to highlight the ...

in their inaugural roles. The film was released on 11 March 2009 in France. The director wanted to highlight the plight of immigrants living in

Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's prefecture is its third-largest city of Arras. Th ...

, France, and their plans to reach the United Kingdom.

Plot

The film tells the story of Simon Calmat (Vincent Lindon), a French swimming coach who is divorcing his wife Marion (Audrey Dana). Simon tries to help a young Iraqi-Kurd immigrant, Bilal Kayani (Firat Ayverdi), whose dream is to cross the English Channel from

in France to the United Kingdom by any means possible to be reunited with his girlfriend Mina (Derya Ayverdi). Meanwhile, Mina's father strongly opposes Bilal's plans as he wants to marry his daughter to her cousin who owns a restaurant. After being caught with other immigrants and returned to France, Simon gives him temporary refuge at his home after the young Bilal, nicknamed "Bazda" (runner, for his athletic abilities and love of football and

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

in particular) registers for swimming lessons, intending to train to be able to swim across the Channel. After police search Simon's apartment, Bilal goes on a final attempt and drowns 800 meters from the English coast while hiding from the coastguard. Simon then travels to inform Mina.

Cast

* Vincent Lindon as Simon Calmat *

as Bilal Kayani, "Bazda", 17-year-old Iraqi-Kurd immigrant * Audrey Dana as Marion, Simon's wife * Olivier Rabourdin as Police lieutenant *

as Mîna, girlfriend of Bilal * Yannick Renier as Simon's colleague at the swimming pool * Thierry Godard as Bruno, immigration activist and friend of Marion at the volunteers *

Fırat Çelik Fırat Çelik (born March 25, 1981) is a Turkish-German actor. Biography He was born in Ostfildern, Germany. He is the son of Alevi-Zaza immigrants from Tunceli, who returned to Turkey when he was two. When Fırat was 9, his family emigrated t ...

as Koban, a furious Turkish immigrant pursuing Bilal for a debt * Jean-Paul Comart as The rank * Mouafaq Rushdie as Mîna's father * Behi Djanati Atai as Mîna's mother * Patrick Ligardes as Hostile neighbor * Jean-Paul Brissart as Immigration judge * Éric Hérson-Macarel as Police officer at the detention center * Emmanuel Courcol as Manager at the supermarket * Jean-François Fagour as Security personnel at the supermarket * Jean-Christophe Voiron as Czech truck driver

Reception

The film became popular with audiences in France alone reaching 780,000 in just 3 weeks on screen. The debate about immigration intensified after French Immigration Minister

Éric Besson Éric Besson (born 2 April 1958 in Marrakesh) is a French politician and businessman. From 2009 to 2010, he was the Minister of Immigration, Integration, National Identity and Co-Development in the government of François Fillon. He left the So ...

and film director Philippe Lioret debated the issue during the popular French television discussion show ''Ce soir (ou jamais !)''. Lioret took the opportunity to ask for an amendment to French law depenalising those who help refugees. "If such a thing passes on mendingthis article, it will be a victory", he declared. The French member of parliament Daniel Goldberg introduced a proposition to decriminalize the aiding of unauthorised immigration (''l'immigration clandestine''). The proposition was hotly debated. The amendment was discussed but did not become law. Goldberg said he intended to introduce further measures to amend the law. Another proposition was tabled by a group of Communist senators, but never discussed.

Accolades

On 25 November 2009, the film won the Lux Prize from the European Parliament.Ecran Large: "Welcome" récompensé au Parlement européen
/ref> Other awards: * 2009: Won "Label Europa Cinemas" and "Prize of the Ecumenical Jury" at the Berlin International Film Festival * 2009: Won "Best Screenplay" and "Special Prize of the Young Jury" at the Gijon International Film Festival * 2009: Won Grand Prize for Dramatic Feature at the Heartland Film Festival * 2009: Won the Audience Award at the Warsaw International Film Festival * 2010: Won Lumières Award for Best Film at the

15th Lumières Awards The 15th Lumières Awards ceremony, presented by the Académie des Lumières, was held on 15 January 2010. The ceremony was presided by Régis Wargnier. ''Welcome'' won the award for Best Film This is a list of categories of awards commonly award ...

* 2010: Won Prix Jacques Prévert du Scénario for Best Original Screenplay

References

External links