''Welcome'' is a 2009 French film directed by

Philippe Lioret Philippe Lioret (born 10 October 1955) is a French film director, screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on ...

. It stars

Vincent Lindon Vincent Lindon (born 15 July 1959) is a French actor and filmmaker. For his role in the film '' The Measure of a Man'' (2015), Lindon won Best Actor at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival, Best Actor at the 41st César Awards and the IFFI Best Actor A ...

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 plight of immigrants living in Calais,

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, and their plans to reach the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

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 The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

from Calais 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 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

as Simon Calmat * Firat Ayverdi as Bilal Kayani, "Bazda", 17-year-old Iraqi-Kurd immigrant *

Audrey Dana Audrey Dana (born 21 September 1977) is a French actress and film director. Life and career Dana studied drama in Orléans and Paris. After two years in New York City, she went back to France where she acted in various plays, including '' Nos am ...

as Marion, Simon's wife *

Olivier Rabourdin Olivier Rabourdin (born 3 March 1959) is a French film actor. He has appeared in more than seventy films since 1985. In 2010 he was nominated for a French César Award in the category of Best Supporting Actor (Meilleur acteur dans un second rôle) ...

as Police lieutenant * Derya Ayverdi as Mîna, girlfriend of Bilal *

Yannick Renier Yannick Renier (born 29 March 1975) is a Belgian actor who started his career in the theatre in the 1990s and has since appeared in several films and television productions. Life and career Renier trained at the Conservatoire Royal in Brussels ...

as Simon's colleague at the swimming pool *

Thierry Godard Thierry Godard (born 8 February 1967) is a French actor.
Gala Profile He has appeared in more than fifty films s ...

as Bruno, immigration activist and friend of Marion at the volunteers * Fırat Çelik as Koban, a furious Turkish immigrant pursuing Bilal for a debt *

Jean-Paul Comart Jean-Paul Comart (born 27 September 1953) is a Belgian actor best known for his appearances in French film in the 1980s. He has appeared in films, TV and in the theatre. Since 2000, Comart has mostly appeared on television, playing Inspector M ...

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 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

mending The technical meaning of maintenance involves functional checks, servicing, repairing or replacing of necessary devices, equipment, machinery, building infrastructure, and supporting utilities in industrial, business, and residential installa ...

this 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 The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

.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 The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the fest ...

* 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 The Heartland International Film Festival is a film festival held each October in Indianapolis, Indiana. The festival was first held in 1992, its goal is to "inspire filmmaker Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion pictu ...

* 2009: Won the Audience Award at the

Warsaw International Film Festival Warsaw Film Festival ( pl, Warszawski Festiwal Filmowy, abbreviated as WFF) is an annual film festival held every October in Warsaw, Poland which previews new films of all genres, including documentaries from all around the world. The festival ha ...

* 2010: Won

Lumières Award for Best Film The Lumières Award for Best Film (french: Prix Lumières du meilleur film) is an annual award presented by the Académie des Lumières since 1996. Winners and nominees In the following lists, the titles and names in bold with a blue background ...

at the 15th Lumières Awards * 2010: Won

Prix Jacques Prévert du Scénario The Prix Jacques Prévert du Scénario is a French film award created in 2007 by the French Screenwriters Guild (''La Guilde Française des Scénaristes''), a trade association which represents more than 350 screenwriters working in the film, televi ...

for Best Original Screenplay

References

External links