I Promise You Paradise (2023)

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.

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.

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.

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.

Land of empty promises

Plot unavailable

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.

The Aegean

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

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.

Welcome to Norway!

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

O Refúgio

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.

Český Alláh

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.

Exode

Plot unavailable

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.

Humanity on Trial

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

Finding Home: A Feature Film for National Adoption Day

After getting fired and divorcing his wife, Courtland is faced with the biggest challenge of all. He must find a home for a young boy.Georgie McGrath

Clay

Adaptation of the book by David Almond, set in 1960s Tyneside. Two 14-year-old boys team up against Mouldy, the town bully. Turning Crazy Mary s garden shed into a workshop, they discover that the sculptures they create come to life. Together they raise a golem, a creature fashioned from clay, capable of dispatching anyone, even Martin Mould. But when Mouldy winds up dead, the boys have to deal with the awful power they may have unleashed and the perils of getting what you wish for.

Bed Bugs

Burned out and lonely Rocky is almost 50 years old and has seen better times as a womanizer. One day, Thorben shows up at his door claiming to be his son. He is trying to get advice on how to be successful with women.

Sock 'Em Dead

Madison Davenport encounters a real vampire in her trailer while she is admiring her socks, and she uses them to fight off the vampire.

The Legend of Maula Jatt

Maula Jatt, a fierce prizefighter with a tortured past seeks vengeance against his arch nemesis Noori Natt, the most feared warrior in the land of Punjab.

Quel fantasma di mio marito

Gianni Alberti is a journalist who is sent to Palestine. He decides to fake a fatal accident so he can then return home as a hero. But things don't turn out as planned, Gianni end up coming back to Italy, but only as a ghost.

Star for a Night

Blind Mrs. Lind comes to American to visit her three children whom she thinks are successful.

Get Up!

A James Brown fanatic gangster decided to disband his own gang and see his long lost daughter before entering prison. Hoping to change his mind, his underlings planned to kidnap James Brown to convince him to perform privately for their boss.

Beauty on Parade

Marian Medford Woodstock gave up a chance twenty years ago to compete for the Miss USA beauty title in order to marry Jeffrey Woodstock. She hopes to realize her past ambitions for fame and fortune through her daughter Kay, whom she persuades to enter a local beauty contest. Kay wins and is interviewed by reporter Gil McRoberts, who advises her to get married and settle down. Jeffrey is very upset with his wife's and daughter's passion for beauty contests and, when Kay enters the national contest, he informs Marian that she must choose between him and her chase after empty honors for Kay.

The Program

An Irish sports journalist becomes convinced that Lance Armstrong's performances during the Tour de France victories are fueled by banned substances. With this conviction, he starts hunting for evidence that will expose Armstrong.

Undressed Minako

"Tsuukai! Big Daddy" is a documentary television show on TV Asahi. The show depicts the real life of Kiyoshi Hayashishita and his family. Movie "Undressed Minako" follows the life of Kiyoshi Hayashishita's ex-wife Minako Hayashishita. Minako Hayashishita separated twice from Kiyoshi Hayashishita and the movie reveals secrets about their divorce. Her father was also abusive, Minako had a baby at the age of 15 and her father was found dead long after his death.

Beyond the Nights

A group of young man from suburban, unite and make some trouble to achieve their different purposes.

The Street Descends to the Sea

At the heart of the story is a middle-aged man with a wife and family who essentially feels stifled. He is a landowner who has made different attempts to go beyond his provinicial environment and in the end, the call of a more active existence in hopefully greener pastures induces him to abandon both his family and his home.

Games of Desire

Florentine is a young, beautiful and passionate woman with a desire for love. Feeling abandoned by her husband's impotency, she searches for outside affection and seduction within brief, but often passionate encounters. During this web of desire she encounters Dorothy. Unknown to Florentine she is her husband's accomplice. In this twisted, frenzied fantasy her husband Jake becomes excited and aroused by the seduction of his wife. With his secret darkrooms and two-way mirrors he begins to desire his wife once more. Florentine, with the help of their adopted son, discovers his world of distorted fantasy. Amazed, but realising that Jake still loves her, she must act.

Angels are My Witnesses

The film, based on a Jean Stelli sroty, tells the adventures of a lieutenant of marines and the mystery of the ship explosion caused by a spy network.

Under the Sky in Seoul

An oriental doctor Kim Hak-gyu is a cantankerous man who is the longest-term householder in a small village in Seoul. He often causes domestic trouble by being nasty to his wife and his children. Kim Hyeon-ok, a daughter of a young widow who runs Nahana Beauty Shop, is in love with Choi Du-yeol, an obstetrician across the street. Kim Hak-gyu has great distaste for western medicine, and at the same time, is jealous of the obstetrician. He always gets in the way of Choi Du-yeol. Kim's son, Hyeon-gu, dates Jeom-ryae, a daughter of a bar owner.

A World for You and Me

Turkish adaptation of the novel “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck.

The Barefooted Young

Jo Doo-soo, a member of a gang, comes across and helps Joanna, a college student who is about to have her handbag robbed by the bullies on her way home. Joanna is a diplomat's daughter and living the life of the upper class; whereas, Jo Doo-soo wastes his days serving the gang. Attracted to one another because of their opposite lives, Doo-soo and Joanna quickly fall in love. Being a devout Christian, Joanna believes that if only Doo-soo changed his thoughts about the way he lives, he could be a new person...

Evolution

Tracing three generations of a family that is unable to process its past in a society still coping with the wounds of its history, from a surreal memory of World War II to modern-day Berlin.

Coup de Grâce

A hostage situation gone bad. Jesús, an amateur thief, holds prisoner a group of clients. But nothing is what it seems. Behind the gates of the drugstore the story will unfold in two times. On one side, to the inevitable end: the police will shoot their way inn. And on the other side, to the past, unveiling how Jesús got caught in this situation, where the hostages are not the real victims, but something more sinister. Retracing step by step, reveling the truth, playing with the prejudices and beliefs of the audience on racial hate, social prejudices, and the intolerance. How far are we willing to go to survive?