Movies - In This World

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	Movies - In This World

In This World is a 2002 British docu-drama directed by Michael Winterbottom. The film tells the story of two Afghan young men, Jamal Udin Torabi and Enayatullah (both playing themselves) as they leave a refugee camp in Pakistan for a better life in England. However, as their journey is illegal, they must use back-channels, bribes, and smugglers to achieve their goal. Their journey is fraught with danger, and ends, both in disaster, and in hope, for a new life in a new world.

Production of the movie, which was in the language of the subjects of the film (Persian and Pashtu), was very simple and low-key. The lead actors were not professional actors at all: they played themselves, as did most of the Middle-Eastern cast. The production team lied to authorities in several countries in order to secure filming rights. In some instances, both whereby they met government resistance (in Iran and Pakistan), and in areas rife with illegal activity, Winterbottom used guerilla filmmaking techniques to catch the necessary footage, with some of those appearing being unaware they were being shot for a film. Much of the character interaction in these scenes were improvised and in reality expose some of the underground, back-room dealing that takes place in immigrant smuggling.

The film is nominally a drama in that it was pre-planned. In other senses, it can be looked at as a documentary, in terms of what was being portrayed being factual, and in some instances where what was seen was completely real. In a case of life imitating art (imitating life), Jamal Udin Torabi, when he reached England for his scenes there, applied for asylum.

The film was released in England in March 2003 by the BBC after festival screenings in 2002. It was released in the United States in a limited amount of cities in September 2003 by Lions Gate as part of the short-lived Sundance Film Series partnership experiment with Loews Cineplex Entertainment. The film did not make much money, but was highly regarded by the critics that were able to screen it.

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