Film Movement Acquires French film, WELCOME!
by Film Movement on Tuesday, December 15, 2009 at 1:07pm ·
We're proud to announce the acquisition of Philippe Lioret’s French, English and Arab-language drama Welcome!
The film paints a portrait of two men wrestling with their own issues of lost love and alienation, while exploring larger contemporary dilemmas like illegal immigration and covert border crossings.
Vincent Lindon and Firat Ayverdi in WELCOME
The film centers on Bilal (Firat Ayverdi), a 17-year-old Kurdish refugee, who has spent the last three months of his life traveling across Europe in an attempt to reunite with his girlfriend who recently emigrated to England. But his journey comes to an abrupt end when he is stopped on the French side of the English Channel. Having decided to swim across, Bilal goes to the local swimming pool to train. It is here he meets Simon (Vincent Lindon), a middle-aged swimming instructor, who is privately reeling in turmoil as he dreads an imminent divorce from his wife (Audrey Dana). Despite their differences, the two men discover that they have much in common, and a strong bond emerges between them. Simon decides to take Bilal under his wing, realizing that he too must risk everything to reach the other side of happiness.
“Welcome is such a nuanced but richly layered film, that you only realize its depth and intricacies once it’s finished, and then you want to see it again,” commented Film Movement's president, Adley Gartenstein in a statement. “We’re truly excited to give the American public the chance to discover Philippe Lioret’s haunting work.”
The film has already begun to receive rave reviews despite it's limited time in the states: Caine Gardner from TheFilmYap.com says "Welcome is a mesmerizing film that is haunting, uplifting and gut-wrenching. Lindon and Ayverdi give great performances and this is one of the rare films that you consider yourself lucky to have seen. A truly moving piece of cinema."
Welcome will be sent to subscribers in February 2010, and will be available for public retail in July 2010.
The film paints a portrait of two men wrestling with their own issues of lost love and alienation, while exploring larger contemporary dilemmas like illegal immigration and covert border crossings.
Vincent Lindon and Firat Ayverdi in WELCOMEThe film centers on Bilal (Firat Ayverdi), a 17-year-old Kurdish refugee, who has spent the last three months of his life traveling across Europe in an attempt to reunite with his girlfriend who recently emigrated to England. But his journey comes to an abrupt end when he is stopped on the French side of the English Channel. Having decided to swim across, Bilal goes to the local swimming pool to train. It is here he meets Simon (Vincent Lindon), a middle-aged swimming instructor, who is privately reeling in turmoil as he dreads an imminent divorce from his wife (Audrey Dana). Despite their differences, the two men discover that they have much in common, and a strong bond emerges between them. Simon decides to take Bilal under his wing, realizing that he too must risk everything to reach the other side of happiness.
“Welcome is such a nuanced but richly layered film, that you only realize its depth and intricacies once it’s finished, and then you want to see it again,” commented Film Movement's president, Adley Gartenstein in a statement. “We’re truly excited to give the American public the chance to discover Philippe Lioret’s haunting work.”
The film has already begun to receive rave reviews despite it's limited time in the states: Caine Gardner from TheFilmYap.com says "Welcome is a mesmerizing film that is haunting, uplifting and gut-wrenching. Lindon and Ayverdi give great performances and this is one of the rare films that you consider yourself lucky to have seen. A truly moving piece of cinema."
Welcome will be sent to subscribers in February 2010, and will be available for public retail in July 2010.