Asylum(1998)

2017 Oscar Nominated Short Films: Documentary(en)

Thrown into Canada(en)

This documentary explores the history of Canada’s first major migration of non-European and non-white refugees who arrived in 1972 when Ugandan President Idi Amin expelled all South Asians from the country. Their story of struggle and hope became part of Canada’s conversations about refugees and cultural pluralism, and informed the Canadian response to future refugee movements.

Report on the Refugee Situation(de)

An unclassifiable cross between documentary and fiction, Kipp takes the viewer through refugee camps bordering Soviet-occupied areas of Germany.

Cohen's War(en)

An hour-long portrait of Canadian immigration lawyer, M. Lee Cohen, renowned for his work with refugees. The film follows his representation of Sonya Pecelj and Vladimir Zalipyatskikh. The first case follows a young woman, Sonya Pecelj from Kosovo, who seeks sanctuary for more than a year in a church; the second case follows a Russian sailor who dives off a ship in Halifax Harbour to escape virtual imprisonment by the Russian fish mafia.

The Diary of Immaculée(en)

In this moving documentary, Oscar-nominated filmmakers Peter LeDonne and Steve Kalafer chronicle the extraordinary life of Immaculée Ilibagiza, a young African woman who escaped genocide in Rwanda and ultimately found refuge in the United States. Seeking shelter with an Episcopalian minister, Immaculée hid from her attackers inside a bathroom for three long months but stayed centered through prayer and faith.

Draussen bleiben(de)

OLO, the Boy from Tibet(ja)

A 6-year-old Tibetan boy leaves his family and flees to a refugee camp in northern India.

Deportation Class(de)

Documentary about a "transportation commando" in Germany with the goal to deport 200 people to Albania...

Enkeltje Vrijheid(nl)

Before the eyes of the Sudanese Ahmed (25), the war broke out in full force. He decides to flee on foot to the Netherlands alone, to be able to live there in freedom. This documentary shows part of his arduous journey: from the Italian Alps to Ter Apel.

When Paul Came Over The Sea(de)

An unusual friendship in an agitated political context.

Iranian Yellow Pages(en)

Striving to build a successful life in London, Reza places an ad in a peculiar newspaper and discovers the Iranian community hidden in plain sight. Winner of the Netflix Documentary Talent Fund.

Warehoused(en)

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.

Exode(fr)

Alma Anciana(pt)

Three juxtaposing stories taking place in Portugal, Austria and Cuba create an intimate and poetic portrait of the daily lives and struggles of the elderly in an unstable world, seen through the eyes of their grandchildren.

The Boy who plays On The Buddhas Of Bamiyan(en)

In March 2001, the ruling Taliban destroyed Afghanistan's foremost tourist attraction, the 1600 year-old Buddhas of Bamiyan. This film follows the story of one of the refugees who now lives among the ruins….an eight-year-old boy named Mir.

Obaida(en)

OBAIDA, a short film by Matthew Cassel, explores a Palestinian child’s experience of Israeli military arrest. Each year, some 700 Palestinian children undergo military detention in a system where ill-treatment is widespread and institutionalized. For these young detainees, few rights are guaranteed, even on paper. After release, the experience of detention continues to shape and mark former child prisoners’ path forward.

Standed(es)

In the Mediterranean, the sea on which our civilization was founded, miles of refugees await Europe to welcome them. "Stranded" approaches the daily life of these long-term refugees, in occupied buildings or in refugee camps At the gates of Europe these people try to keep hope alive while they live.

Mr. Gay Syria(en)

In focusing his attention on the competitors of Mr Gay Syria, director Ayse Toprak shatters the one-dimensional meaning of “refugee”. Using the pageant as a means of escape from political persecution, the organiser Mahmoud — already given asylum in Berlin — hopes to offer the winner a chance to travel as well as bring international attention to the life-threatening situations faced by LGBT Syrians.

Displacement and Resilience(hi)

The documentary is a five country-based sequences featuring stories about conflict, migration and the experience of exile; Tibetan women refugees in Dharamshala, India, Syrian refugee family in Tunisia, evicted indigenous women in the Phlippines; Rohingya women in Haryana and Delhi, and Syrian women refugees in Canada.

Human Flow(en)

More than 65 million people around the world have been forced from their homes to escape famine, climate change and war, the greatest displacement since World War II. Filmmaker Ai Weiwei examines the staggering scale of the refugee crisis and its profoundly personal human impact. Over the course of one year in 23 countries, Weiwei follows a chain of urgent human stories that stretch across the globe, including Afghanistan, France, Greece, Germany and Iraq.