I Promise You Paradise (2023)

Refugee Poetry

The Kurdish Iraqi poet and actor Zeravan Khalil travels with his dog through an Alpine gorge after fleeing from IS war and genocide. As he remembers the abomination, he writes a poem with the title “You drive me mad” in Kurmanji Kurdish. In his home country, Yazidic Kurds are forbidden to work in his profession. Then he eats his apple and wanders through Europe’s middle with more hope.

More

Gaza is a 14-year-old boy who lives on the Aegean coast of Turkey. Together with his domineering father, he helps smuggle refugees from war-torn countries to Europe, giving them temporary lodgings and scant food until they attempt the crossing. Gaza dreams of escaping this life, but can't help being drawn into a dark world of immorality, exploitation and human suffering. Can you avoid becoming a monster when you've been raised by one? Onur Saylak's debut feature, adapted from the award-winning novel of the same title by Hakan Günday, one of the first novels to document the refugee crisis in Europe, "More" is the gripping story of a boy that gets to grow up in a world where there's no room for innocence.

Parvaneh

Parvaneh is a young Afghan immigrant who recently arrived at a transit centre for asylum seekers in the Swiss Alps. The only things she has got to know yet are the rural area surrounding the centre and the centre itself.

The Aegean

A widowed Greek fisherman and a teenage refugee form an emotional bond while sailing the azure waters of the Aegean Sea.

Happy End

A well-to-do French family living in Calais deal with a series of setbacks and crises while paying little attention to the grim conditions in the refugee camps within a few miles of their home.

Land of empty promises

Plot unavailable

Welcome to Norway!

A couple decide to open a home for refugees in the remote cold mountains of Norway.

Green Border

In the treacherous and swampy forests that make up the so called “green border” between Belarus and Poland, refugees from the Middle East and Africa trying to reach the European Union are trapped in a geopolitical crisis cynically engineered by Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko. In an attempt to provoke Europe, refugees are lured to the border by propaganda promising easy passage to the EU. Pawns in this hidden war, the lives of Julia, a newly minted activist who has given up her comfortable life, Jan, a young border guard, and a Syrian family intertwine.

The Flood

Wendy, a hardened immigration officer is offered a high-profile asylum case, judged on her ability to quickly and clinically reject applicants. Through her interrogation, she must uncover whether Haile is lying and has a more sinister reason for seeking asylum.

One of Many

Told in a very abstract and poetic way, this love story – set in very unusual circumstances – is inspired by the refugee crisis, in which Macedonia played the unfortunate role of a transit country.

Warehoused

An estimated 12 million people live in refugee camps worldwide and only 0.1% are resettled, repatriated, or integrated into normal society each year. The feature-length documentary.

Sea Sorrow

A very personal and dynamic meditation on the current global refugee crisis through the eyes and voices of campaigners, specially children, where past and present establish a dialogue. A reflection on the importance of human rights.

The Great Wall

‘The Great Wall has been completed at its most southerly point.’ So begins Kafka’s short story ‘At the Building of the Great Wall of China’, and so, at Europe’s heavily militarised south-eastern frontier, begins this film. In the shadow of its own narratives of freedom, Europe has been quietly building its own great wall. Like its famous Chinese precursor, this wall has been piecemeal in construction, diverse in form and dubious in utility. Gradually cohering across the continent, this system of enclosure and exclusion is urged upon a populace seemingly willing to accept its necessity and to contribute to its building.

Un jour ça ira

Djibi and Ange, two teenagers living on the streets, arrive at the Archipel, an emergency shelter in the heart of Paris. This documentary is a look at the Archipel, a shelter offering an innovative way to welcome families living on the streets.

It Will be Chaos

Part road-movie and part intimate portrait of lives in transit, IT WILL BE CHAOS unfolds between Italy and the Balkan corridor, intercutting two unforgettable refugees stories of human strength and resilience.

Coyote

A story of forbidden love in a dystopian future where teleportation technology enables two refugees to escape genocide. When they trust the wrong back-alley teleporter, Ekaterina and Anya are separated. In a desperate attempt to be reunited, our heroines are entwined in an insidious human trafficking ring involving corrupt politicians.

Retrograde

The story of the last months of the 20-year war in Afghanistan through the intimate relationship between American Green Berets and the Afghan officers they trained.

Volunteer

A film about the unprecedented Swiss grassroots movement of regular citizens who rise to aid thousands of refugees stranded at the European borders. In rich and safe Switzerland people from all backgrounds leave their regular life behind to support people in need. There is a Swiss farmer and his wife who keep cows in the Swiss Alps, a former commander of the Swiss Army, an elder rich lady residing at the lakeside, and a successful comedian and entertainer. These unexperienced volunteers take on an adventure that will change their lives forever.

Český Alláh

Plot unavailable

L'Aventure

In the Briançonnais mountains, in France, men and women on the roads of exile find the courage to cross the passes on foot, risking their lives. Arrived at the end of a long journey, exhausted, they do not know if they could settle down somewhere to start their life over. It is this transitional time that "The Adventure" tells. Ossoul, the Sudanese poet, Mamadou, survivor of an icy night at the Col de l'Échelle, Charlotte, Mother Courage and others are gradually getting back on their feet and settling to embark on a new life. Filmed over three years, "L'Aventure" is a story of resilience, friendships and revealed emotions. The portraits are drawn and deepened until everyone can recognize themselves in the other, put themselves in their place and understand them.

Humanity on Trial

Humanity on Trial follows humanitarian Salam Aldeen as he is accused of human smuggling by the Hellenic Coast Guard.

Exode

Plot unavailable

O Refúgio

Plot unavailable

Porta d’Europa

A migrant boat has been stranded in the Mediterranean Sea for 30 hours. As authorities ignore calls for help, the Sea-Watch Crew, an NGO, launches an urgent search.

Refugees Are Welcome Here

"Open the borders," chant democratically minded residents in Berlin and frustrated refugees behind the barbed wire of makeshift camps. The winding path between them is interwoven with encounters with empathetic volunteers and clashes with repressive state forces and hostile far-right citizens.

Aşk Fırtınası

The film tells the story of Nermin and Refik's love. Nermin grows up with Feriha, whom her father adopted. After a successful school career, Nermin starts working as a flight attendant. She and Refik, the pilot of the plane she works on, fall in love quickly and decide to get married. One day, when Nermin returns home, she sees her father with Feriha. Shortly thereafter, her father and Feriha get married. However, Muammer Bey dies. It falls to Nermin and Refik to comfort Feriha, who is left alone after her husband's death. Despite their kind intentions, Feriha has another agenda. Having seized all of Muammer Bey's assets, Feriha will also try to get her hands on Refik.

Loveyapa

The madness after a couple exchanges their mobile phones and begins to unearth bitter truth about each other.

Six Feet Over

Sofiane, the son of a former Algerian diplomat, has travelled a lot. Having moved to Lyon for his studies, he is the victim of an administrative decision and lives under constant threat of deportation. In the hope of regularising his situation, he agrees to work for a Muslim funeral parlour. Between parties, encounters and his job, Sofiane finds himself on a journey of initiation that will lead him to build his own identity and gradually move towards adulthood.

The Sabarmati Report

A Hindi reporter struggles with a deadly fact when a train full of Karsewaks is set ablaze in Godhra. Years later, he is asked to help expose the Sabarmati Incident backed by a buried report.

Nächte vor Hochzeiten

Plot unavailable

Jukujo no yûwaku: Iregui no yado

After the affair, Keiji presses Yoshiko to marry him, but Yoshiko refuses because she is concerned about the fact that she is older than Keiji. Meanwhile, Yoshiko is selected as the secretary of the new company president, Okawa, and she is invited by Okawa to his villa in Izu. She was told to find a replacement for her private driver, who is currently on vacation, and she recommended Keiji.

Sun-dome Snack: Mesu sakaba

Ikeyama is a freelance reportage writer who has raised his daughter single-handedly since his wife died. One day, Ikeyama goes to pick up material for a project brought to him by his new editor, Kondo, "Special Feature on Rumored Beautiful Moms." Ikeyama, who is taken around by Kondo, meets Moe, a beautiful mother, at the last snack bar he decides to go to.

Right to Choose

Plot unavailable

Off the Stage

Ms. Qi, an erstwhile nationally famous Yue Opera actress, returns to her hometown in the last days of her life after a long absence from her three children. While she seeks reconciliation with her two sons, Autumn and Summer, Ms. Qi involves herself in a new play that stars Summer. Meanwhile, a series of secrets begin to reveal themselves.

No Matter Where

When Itay discovers that his girlfriend changed her name to Silver and is coming out as gender fluid, his world shatters, testing their relationship.

The Wild Daisy

Teenage cousins Masao and Tamiko fall in love when she comes to his riverside brewery house to take care of his sickly mother. Family objections ensue as Tamiko is older than Masao, and the two cannot marry in peace.

Lupe

Mexican actress Lupe Vélez's final hours as she overdoses on Seconal.

Eva

Young Antinoos is on vacation on an island where he meets a seductive woman, Eva, who is having a miserable time with her middle-aged husband, Alekos. Eva is attracted to Antinoos, who is her missing part, but at the same time, she feels guilty and tries to suppress her passion.

Girl of the Port

Josie, a New York showgirl with a mind of her own and a heart of gold, finds herself stranded on the island of Fiji. While seeking a way home she is befriended by a local man who gets her a job working as a barmaid at The Bamboo Bar. There she meets an alcoholic World War I veteran who is haunted by his wartime experiences and has an irrational fear of fire. Under her concerned care, he begins to recover and they fall in love. But then her jealous self-appointed boyfriend forces the veteran to participate in a traditional Fijian fire-walking ritual. To overcome his terror he must walk across 20 feet of burning coals and fight his rival to reach Josie's loving arms.