Cinema Without Borders: 6 Films on Immigration & Identity
What does it mean to leave home and start over in an unfamiliar place? For many, migration is more than a physical journey—it is an emotional passage of hope, sacrifice, and the search for belonging.
In this list, CinemaWorld spotlights six films that capture the complex realities of uprooting oneself in pursuit for a better life. Through the eyes of different characters, these stories confront the struggles of displacement and discrimination, while also illuminating the resilience and triumphs of building a new home.
Young Tiger (2014)
At 15, a young Indian teenage boy, Many, is smuggled into France to work, lured by the promise of building a better life in a foreign land.
Two years later, 17-year-old Many is receiving an education and has finally assimilated into the French Sikh community. He spends his days busy with school, his friends, and a new girlfriend. Life seems almost perfect—but his past continues to overshadow his present. Back home, his parents constantly pressure him to send money, which he earns by working with smugglers.
As Many struggles to juggle his newfound life with the heavy responsibilities his family has entrusted him with, he is forced to embark on a moral reckoning.
Mediterranea (2015)
Nominated for both the Critics Week Grand Prize and Golden Camera Prize at Cannes Film Festival, 2015, Mediterranea explores the tensions between self and community…
The film follows two friends, Ayiya and Abas, as they leave their home in Burkina Faso and are smuggled into Italy. With dreams of seeking more opportunities to support themselves and their families back at home, the men try to adapt to their new life, but tensions between the local community and the immigrants are on the rise.
Caught between two opposing groups, Ayiya and Abas are forced to pick a side—will they choose to uphold their values and beliefs, or try to assimilate into the local culture?
Running On Sand (2023)
Aumari, a young Eritrean refugee living in Israel, is on the verge of being deported back to his home country. Unwilling to accept his fate, he tries to escape the authorities at the airport but is mistaken for a Nigerian soccer striker in the midst of the chaos.
Presented with this opportunity of a lifetime, Aumari decides to play into the facade and becomes the new member of the team ‘Maccabi Netanya’—despite his lack of soccer skills.
This is a light-hearted comedy that carries a deeper message about one’s search for belonging and the meaning of family.
The Golden Dream (2015)
Nominated for both the Golden Camera Award and Un Certain Regard Award at 2013 Cannes Film Festival, The Golden Dream follows three 15-year-old Guatemalans, Juan, Sára and Samuel, on the perilous journey aboard the notorious “train of death” from Mexico to the USA.
Drawn by the shimmering promise of freedom and opportunity, they face hunger, exhaustion, and the constant threat of violence. Along the way, they befriend Chauk, an Indian migrant who cannot speak Spanish, forging a fragile bond that transcends language. As their journey unfolds, the looming uncertainty about the dangers of crossing borders without papers becomes starkly real.
Lemonade (2018)
This 2018 Berlin Film Festival Nominee follows Mara, a young Romanian mother who works as a caregiver in the United States, hoping to obtain her green card to secure a better future for herself and her son Dragos. And so she marries one of her patients, Daniel, an American man she hardly knows.
However, the process of obtaining a green card proves much darker than she could have ever imagined—as government personnel at all stages exploit her vulnerability.
As the American Dream grows increasingly bleak, Mara is confronted with the question: how far would she go to get what she wants?
Binti (2019)
12-year-old aspiring vlogger Binti and her father, Jovial, live a quiet life in Belgium. Born in Congo without legal documents, they live under the constant threat of deportation. When the police eventually raid their home, they are forced to flee. During their escape, Binti discovers the treehouse of 11-year-old Elias, who is avoiding his mother after she receives a romantic getaway invitation from their neighbour—much to his annoyance.
When Binti meets Elias’s mother, she realises the perfect solution to her problems is right in front of her. If she can get her to fall in love with Jovial, she and her father might finally have a chance to stay in Belgium.
Mixing light-hearted humour with a heartfelt exploration of belonging and resilience, Binti transforms an immigration story into an uplifting tale about love, family and finding a place to call home.
All movies are available this September on CinemaWorld.
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