Undocument

2020 • 92 minutes

About this movie

UNDOCUMENT bears witness to four journeys of longing and love, immigration and identity, as one cinematic vision. As the film weaves its way north from the Middle East to the UK, the 'narrative baton' is passed from one woman and child to another in a human race against economic, social, political, and legal forces. Leila stakes everything to flee Afghanistan and join her husband in London so that she can give birth and raise their child to read and write, live and think freely. To the family harbouring her in Tehran, these secrets pose a dangerous threat. Somewhere in Greece, an Iranian mother struggles to maintain her dignity and protect her eight-year-old son. Day after day the boy attempts to make sense of the uncomfortable mix of fear and awe as he watches their trafficker berate and humiliate the adults. Laura entered the UK illegally before Poland was part of the EU. Now everything's as it should be, until her London-born daughter opens the door to immigration officers with a warrant for her North African partner's deportation. Ramzi maintains the required distance from his Arab brothers and sisters in his role as courtroom interpreter. Then he witnesses a young boy reaching out to touch his mother – a face on the courtroom monitor – and is confronted by his own complicity in the institutional processes and procedures that determine the outcome of so many complex human stories.

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