Event Details

Philippe Lioret
2008 / 110 min. 

Both a study of a budding friendship and a compassionate look at the perils faced by illegal immigrants, Philippe Lioret’s Welcome centers on Bilal, a 17-year-old Iraqi Kurd who is stuck in Calais, in Northern France, and Simon, a recently divorced swimming teacher. Desperate to join his girlfriend in London, Bilal vows to swim across the English Channel if he has to, setting the stage for his meeting with Simon. Unmistakably a condemnation of xenophobia in France, Welcome also features richly drawn, fully fleshed-out lead characters.

The Tournées Festival was made possible with the support of the French Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs and the Centre National de la Cinématographie. Sponsors include The Florence Gould Foundation, the Grand Marnier Foundation and highbrow entertainment. Presented by the Liebowitz Center for International Studies. Co-sponsored by the Division of Languages and Literature and the Division of Social Studies at Bard College at Simon's Rock.