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Winner of Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film 2010

Director: Philippe Loiret
Starring: Vincent Lindon, Firat Ayverdi
France, 2009, 1 hour 49 minutes, subtitles

Fri 26 February 8.30pm The Courtyard Hereford
Sat 27 6.00pm The Courtyard Hereford

A huge popular and critical success in France this ode to the abandoned immigrants trapped on the shores of Calais is a real winner. Homing in on two men and what they'll do for the women they love, it wisely makes its political points in passing. Bilal, a young Kurdish boy has undertaken the dangerous journey to Europe to join his girlfriend in London. When he's turned back, he decides he'll have to swim the Channel. He's taken under the wing of Simon who decides to impress his estranged wife by teaching Bilal how to swim. This is a compassionate, humane portrait of the lives of refugees that packs a powerful emotional punch thanks to compelling central performances.