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Twenty years since its UK release, the Berlin Golden Bear-winning docudrama shows as part of Refugee Week 2023 in a benefit screening for the walking, storytelling and campaigning organisation Refugee Tales.
Hosted by Gareth Evans, the screening will be followed by a Q&A with the film's writer Tony Grisoni, and readings from Pulitzer-Prize winning author Matthieu Aikin's The Naked Don’t Fear the Water by acclaimed actor Toby Jones.
"Winterbottom's film is distinguished by its simplicity. Two Afghan refugees from a teeming camp in western Pakistan make an illicit, expensive and incredibly arduous overland journey towards a prospective new life as asylum seekers in Britain. The widescreen DV camera records it all, as they evade Iranian security forces, trek over snowy mountains into Turkey and brave a nightmare passage in a container ship across the Mediterranean. Knowing we're watching genuine Afghans playing themselves intensifies sympathy for their plight... An eye-opener" (Time Out)
The making of this astonishing film is almost as remarkable as the drama it describes. Tony Grisoni will detail how he and the director traced the route made by the young men in advance, while Toby Jones will read from Aikin's own undercover account, as the journalist joined his Afghan friend in 2016 to make the same journey.
Refugee Tales organises solidarity walks, publishes testimonial story collections and campaigns against indefinite immigration detention. Books will be on sale, and information available.
In association with Fitzcarraldo Editions, Refugee Tales and Refugee Week 2023. Thanks to Matthieu Aikins, Clare Bogen, Andrew Eaton, Toby Jones and Revolution Films.
Cast:
Jamal Udin Torabi, Enayatullah