To escape the civil war in Sri Lanka, a former Tamil Tiger, a woman and a girl pretend to be a family so that they can be registered as refugees in France. They end up in a suburb of Paris and try to build up their lives.
Former Tamil Tiger Sivadhasan manages to get hold of a passport from Dheepan, a deceased compatriot. He steals his identity and creates a fake family together with Yalini, a woman he scarcely knows, and Illayaal, a young orphan girl from the camp. That will improve their chances of being given political asylum in Europe.
Together the three set off for Europe. There they end up in a cheerless neighbourhood in a suburb of Paris, where drugs gangs call the shots. Dheepan starts work as a concierge and Yalini finds a job nursing an elderly man. But building up a new life with people you don’t know, in an unsafe area crawling with criminals, turns out to be a tough challenge for the small family.
Watch the trailer:
About Outdoor Cinema: migration
This summer Humanity House opens its terrace for a series of open-air films: Outdoor Cinema 2016! The theme this year is migration.
We are showing films and documentaries from all corners of the world about people who take the momentous decision to leave their homeland. Leaving a dangerous place, arriving in the land of their dreams, or stranded in a place where they don’t want to be at all: how do they relate to new and unknown surroundings, and to policies often aimed at keeping them out? Come to this special summer cinema series and step into the world of the migrant.
Why this film?
Programmer Carry: “Migrants leave everything behind to pursue their dreams elsewhere. In the film you see how somebody works hard to build up a new existence, but life leaves them little choice but to fall into old habits. The film clearly shows what it takes to immigrate in search of a better life.”
Good to know
Director: Jacques Audiard
Length: 115 minutes
Subtitles: English subtitles
Start: the film starts at sunset
Rain: If it rains we will screen the film in our (covered!) Genèva Room
What others said about this movie
According to the Guardian is Dheepan “a crime drama packed with epiphanic grandeur”. Read about it here.
All films in the open air
28-07-16 Film: Stranded in Canton
03-08-16 Docu: The Tiniest Place
04-08-16 Film: Norteado
10-08-16 Docu: A World Not Ours
11-08-16 Film: Children of Men
17-08-16 Docu: They will have to kill us first
18-08-16 Film: Dheepan
24-08-16 Docu: Special Flight
25-08-16 Film: The Terminal