economic migrants

This film follows the fortunes - probably the wrong word - of two Afghan refugees - Jamal, about 14, and his cousin Enayatullah as they make their way from the refugee camp on the borders of Pakistan through Iran, Turkey, Italy, Sangatte and eventually to England - well Jamal makes it -Enayatullah dies on the route.

The film directed by Michael Winterbottom and written by Tony Grisoni follows the actual route. So we see the dusty long roads - the crowding in the cities -the sleazy coffee bars - the border crossings - the border guards - the beauty of the Iran/Turkey border - Sangatte - hostility - friendliness - and comradeship.

There is a lot of good work - with mostly untrained actors - all the scenes look naturalistic - and are believable. This film really does make you despair - why do we not spend just a fraction of the money - we spend on war - on helping these refugees have a decent life?

This is a film I would strongly recommend.