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

Philippe Lioret Philippe Lioret (born 10 October 1955) is a French film director, screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. Th ...

. 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 ...

and features

Firat Ayverdi Firat Ayverdi is a Kurdish film actor, born in 1990, best known for his lead role as young Bilal in French director Philippe Lioret's film ''Welcome'' about illegal immigration, a film that co-stars French actor Vincent Lindon. In 2010, Ayverdi wa ...

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 Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a French port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Calais is the largest city in Pas-de-Calais. The population of the city proper is 67,544; that of the urban area is 144,6 ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, 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 Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the 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, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busi ...

from

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 Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

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 *

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 César Award Cesar or César may refer to: Arts and entertainment * César (film), ''César ...

as Police lieutenant * Derya Ayverdi as Mîna, girlfriend of Bilal * Yannick Renier as Simon's colleague at the swimming pool *

Thierry Godard Thierry Godard (born 8 February 1967) is a French actor. He has appeared in more than fifty films since 2001. Early life and education Godard was born on 8 February 1967 in Issy-les-Moulineaux, France. After finishing school, he earned a cabi ...

as Bruno, immigration activist and friend of Marion at the volunteers *

Fırat Çelik Fırat Çelik (born March 25, 1981) is a Turkish-German actor. Biography He was born in Ostfildern, Germany. He is the son of Turkish immigrants from Bursa, who returned to Turkey when he was two. When Fırat was 9, his family emigrated to Fr ...

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 An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of ...

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 Éric Besson (born 2 April 1958 in Marrakesh) is a French politician and businessman. From 2009 to 2010, he was the Minister of Immigration, Integration, National Identity and Co-Development in the government of François Fillon. He left the Soc ...

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 mendingthis 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 The European Parliament LUX Prize, commonly known as the LUX Prize or LUX Film Prize, was a prize given to a competing film by the European Parliament. Introduced in 2007, the prize is named after the Latin word for "light", lux. The award was ...

from the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two 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 ...

.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 (), usually called the Berlinale (), is an annual film festival held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festival has been held every February since 1978 and is one of Europ ...

* 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 (HIFF) is a high academy qualifying film festival held each October in Indianapolis, Indiana, hosted by the nonprofit organization Heartland Film, Inc. The festival was first held in 1992, with the goal to ...

* 2009: Won the Audience Award at the

Warsaw International Film Festival Warsaw Film Festival (; WFF), also known as Warsaw International Film Festival, is an annual international film festival held every October in Warsaw, Poland. The 40th edition of the festival will take place from 11 to 20 October 2024. Histor ...

* 2010: Won

Lumière Award for Best Film The Lumière Award for Best 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 are the winners and recipients respective ...

at the

15th Lumière Awards The 15th Lumière Awards ceremony, presented by the Académie des Lumières, was held on 15 January 2010. The ceremony was presided by Régis Wargnier. ''Welcome (2009 film), Welcome'' won the award for Lumière Award for Best Film, Best Film. Wi ...

* 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, telev ...

for Best Original Screenplay

References

External links