To get out of the country where their life is in danger in a hurry, the refugees embark on a marathon. A long marathon. The kind of people who can be counted in years. And from which they do not come out unscathed.
This is the case of Afshin, Alain and Patricia, the three endearing characters of this documentary, an original idea of Julie Boisvert and Mylène Péthel who co-wrote the screenplay with Paul Tom.
Without imposing, without pushing, Alone wants to demonstrate that the arrival of immigrants to the country does not constitute a threat or a burden for the society in place. On the contrary, it constitutes an added value.
The film therefore follows the journey of three refugees who have reached different stages in their lives. Afshin, whom the parents practically forced to leave Iran, lives on the island of Montreal where he has visibly succeeded. The man is married, has a family and has a house in L’Île-Bizard.
Alain also had a good career. Having left Africa, he is now a police officer in Toronto. As for Patricia, she is a young woman whose fate was still unclear at the time of filming. She was granted refugee status, but still had everything to learn to find a place for herself in society.
All this is told to us with a lot of empathy and a touch of humor. So even though Afshin did well, he suffered a lot from the absence of his parents. When his mother comes to visit him, she says: “I miss the smell of my son. On the other hand, this Afshin, a fine director, has found an infallible way to make people talk about him at school!
The approach is disarmingly simple but necessary to fully understand the challenges of the three characters. As the portion of their life before their arrival is not based on any visual archive, it is told in animated sequences. The stroke of the pencil, like the colors, is very simple. It goes back to the fact that their story began in a very modest way.
To reinforce the point, we would have appreciated having some statistics on the situation of refugees after their arrival. Sometimes we would have liked music that was just a little less insistent.
But overall, this documentary is a very, very beautiful tribute to the resilience of immigrants and the kindness of the workers and volunteers who welcome them to the country.
Indoors and at RIDMs
Consult the film schedule
Documentary
Alone
Paul tom
With Afshin Khazeni, Alain Arakaza and Patricia Asiimwe
1 h 22