IN THIS WORLD

UK, 2002, 89 minutes, Colour.
Jamal Udin Torabi, Enayat Ullah.
Directed by Michael Winterbottom.

In the crowded Afghan refugee camps outside Peshawar on the northwest frontier of Pakistan, two young cousins, Enayat and Jamal, set out overland for London. No ID documents, a little money, a little English, at the mercy of people smugglers, they make their way through Iran (and are sent back to Pakistan), back through Iran, over the Turkish mountains to Istanbul, locked in a container on a boat to Trieste...

Asylum seekers. Controversies rage in Britain and other European countries. The closure of the temporary camp at Sangatte on the Channel coast where so many refugees jumped trains and trucks to attempt a concealed journey to England led to an influx into England. These are social and political topics that led to heated arguments prior to the war on Iraq. In the aftermath of the war, thousands of displaced people will be on the move again. Catholic papers like The Universe have constantly alerted its readers to the plight of the Iraquis and other refugees. What should be done?

British director, Michael Winterbottom, offers one answer: put a face on these anonymous refugees, show their story so that the argument will not just be about statistics or unspecified fears.

When In This World won the Ecumenical Prize at the 2003 Berlin Film Festival from a jury consisting of three Catholics representing SIGNIS, the World Catholic Association for Communication, and three members representing Interfilm, the Protestant Organisation for Film Festival juries, commentators were pleased that the Churches had acknowledged the global problems of millions of people on the move. The next day, the press was very surprised that this small-budget film running under 90 minutes won the main award, the Golden Bear.

While we see news items about the refugees, and they are frequently alarmist in tone, few of us know many of them or even any of them. Winterbottom has taken a small digital video camera and re-created the harsh journey from Peshawar to London and invites us to accompany him. We get to know the two cousins, especially Jamal and share with them the uncertainties of the journey. None of us would like to spend our lives and see our future in the camp in Peshawar, dusty, crowded, limited access to water. We would try to get out.

During the journey, which has more comforts these days like bus travel and phone calls, we experience the two boys limited language skills, their having to trust so many people who might swindle them, the interrogations by police. As they get closer to their goal, they are trapped in the container ship and, like the 58 Chinese who suffocated in the back of a truck two years ago, not everyone survives.

Afghans have been refugees in Pakistan since the Russian invasion over twenty years ago. Others fled the Taliban. Others fled the bombings of 2001. There are more than three million Afghan refugees in Iran alone. When the bombs stop falling, how will the people live, where can they go? And, without explicitly asking its audience, this is what this film challenges us to ponder.

1. The impact of the film, its modesty? Its awards?

2. Digital photography, the abilities for manoeuvring of the digital camera, sense of realism? Translation to film stock? The quality of the production?

3. The range of locations, capturing the look, the feel, the landscapes? The electronic map? The musical score?

4. The journey taking place from February 2002? The issues in Pakistan and Afghanistan in 2002? The aftermath of 11 September, the history of Afghanistan and the Russian invasion and occupation, the Taliban? The number of refugees, going to Pakistan, the huge camps outside Peshawar? The refugees themselves, trying to settle in the camps, the way of life in the camps, poverty, lack of amenities like water? The children and their happiness, posing for the camera? Games? The possibilities for staying or moving elsewhere?

5. The desires of the refugees for a better life, the contrast with life in the city of Peshawar, cars, shops, the markets? The agents for refugees and getting them out of Pakistan and towards Europe? The dangers, the risks? The police, interrogations, lack of identification documents? The nature of the travel over land, the uncertainties, the possibility and reality of death?

6. Enayat and his desire to go to England, the elders in the camp, their decisions, supporting him, the money? Jamal and his knowledge of English, sixteen years old, accompanying Enayat? The financing of the trip, the farewells? Having to be on time, Jamal a bit late? The meetings and planning, the trips on the buses, the cars? The hospitality they found on the way, as well as suspicions?

7. How well did the film delineate the two characters, in themselves, with each other? Their being figures in the landscapes they passed through? The interrogation and Jamal giving the Walkman to the police? Saving having to be stranded for days? Enayat and his resentment? The nature of bribes and corruption? The shoes? Money, eating? The rooms and having to pay extra? The police in Iran, the bus being stopped, the interrogations, their lies, their being returned to Pakistan?

8. Trying again, getting into Iran, getting by a different route to Teheran? In the city, paying for the rooms, indulging in the ice cream? The way of life in the Iranian city and the strong contrast? Atmosphere of affluence and comfort? Their staying, the difficulties of maintaining food and lodging there?

9. Being taken to Turkey, the border, meeting the family, their kindness, hospitality? Their farewell and the rituals with fire and water? The snow-clad peaks, the danger at the border, the Turks with guns? Jamal wanting to give up? Their being protected and guided?

10. Arriving in Istanbul, uncertainties in the city, the dealers, the plans, the couple and their child, working in the factory, going into the container?

11. The container ship, its voyage in the Mediterranean, the refugees suffocating, banging on the container, Enayat dying, the couple dying but the child staying alive? The Italians trying to deal with it on arrival?

12. Trieste, Jamal and his survival, selling goods on the street, being persuasive, stealing the purse from the tourist? Buying the train ticket to Paris, going to Paris, going to the camp at Sangatte? The way of life in Sangatte, survival, people and their communication, determination to get out, running after the trains, Jamal and his friend hiding, safely to London?

13. The way of life in London, settled, his work, phoning home? The decision that he could stay only till his eighteenth birthday?

14. The voice-over and the introduction and commentary about the numbers of refugees, their plight? The finale and the questions asked about the concessions to Jamal but his having to face deportation at eighteen.

15. The focus on the journey, the experience, the two young men, the agents, the lack of scruple, the friendly people, hospitality, the need for money, Enayat keeping extra money in his shoe, the bus trips, the phone calls, special treats like the ice cream?

16. Helping audiences to face up to the realities of these issues at the beginning of the 21st century? A face on social issues?