Synopsis:
ASYLUM is the story of three families who have fled conflict, murder and repression in their own countries. They have come to Britain seeking refuge and, from Winter 2002, each family has agreed to be filmed over a two-and-a-half year period as they struggle to build new lives. The Seth family arrived in Britain from Afghanistan. Madan Seth owned his own pharmacy but as Hindus living in an overwhelmingly Muslim country they suffered persecution and harassment. When his sister-in-law was abducted and killed he felt it was time to go. They sold their house and used their savings to pay an agent who promised to take them to a safe haven. Hidden in the back of a truck, they travelled from Pakistan, eventually arriving in Birmingham to claim asylum. Zahra Ahmed is a schoolteacher from Somalia. She was brutally attacked and her baby killed. Leaving her husband behind Zahra fled her native country. Her journey has taken twelve months, and on the way a second child died. She arrived in the UK with her three remaining children and two teenaged dependents, making her way, eventually, to Leicester. Adel Guemar is Algerian, an independent journalist and poet in a country where Islamists and the security services each vie for power. When his work as a journalist brought him up against the security services, and threats and harassment became unbearable, Adel decided to leave. Months later his pregnant wife and two young children joined him. Zahra Ahmed and her children are living in emergency accommodation in Leicester as their application is processed. The Seth family and the Guemar family are in hostels in London waiting to be dispersed to cities across Britain. Adel Guemar and his family (now with a new-born baby) are eventually sent to a housing-estate in Swansea, whilst the Seth family are dispersed to a house in Leeds. An asylum-seeker’s life is a life in limbo; unable to work, and waiting for decisions that take months to arrive. Over the next two years they are filmed as their moods swing from euphoria to despair, depending on a court’s verdict or a letter from the Home Office. At one stage Madan Seth’s wife, Surila, cannot cope any more and struggles with a stress-induced nervous breakdown. In Swansea the Guemars are victims of a series of racist attacks. While the children are settling down in their schools, quickly learning English and making friends, their parents anxiously wait, enduring hostility, uncertainty and even, yes, hope.
Festivals
Sheffield Doc Fest 2006
Synopsis:
ASYLUM is the story of three families who have fled conflict, murder and repression in their own countries. They have come to Britain seeking refuge and, from Winter 2002, each family has agreed to be filmed over a two-and-a-half year period as they struggle to build new lives. The Seth family arrived in Britain from Afghanistan. Madan Seth owned his own pharmacy but as Hindus living in an overwhelmingly Muslim country they suffered persecution and harassment. When his sister-in-law was abducted and killed he felt it was time to go. They sold their house and used their savings to pay an agent who promised to take them to a safe haven. Hidden in the back of a truck, they travelled from Pakistan, eventually arriving in Birmingham to claim asylum. Zahra Ahmed is a schoolteacher from Somalia. She was brutally attacked and her baby killed. Leaving her husband behind Zahra fled her native country. Her journey has taken twelve months, and on the way a second child died. She arrived in the UK with her three remaining children and two teenaged dependents, making her way, eventually, to Leicester. Adel Guemar is Algerian, an independent journalist and poet in a country where Islamists and the security services each vie for power. When his work as a journalist brought him up against the security services, and threats and harassment became unbearable, Adel decided to leave. Months later his pregnant wife and two young children joined him. Zahra Ahmed and her children are living in emergency accommodation in Leicester as their application is processed. The Seth family and the Guemar family are in hostels in London waiting to be dispersed to cities across Britain. Adel Guemar and his family (now with a new-born baby) are eventually sent to a housing-estate in Swansea, whilst the Seth family are dispersed to a house in Leeds. An asylum-seeker’s life is a life in limbo; unable to work, and waiting for decisions that take months to arrive. Over the next two years they are filmed as their moods swing from euphoria to despair, depending on a court’s verdict or a letter from the Home Office. At one stage Madan Seth’s wife, Surila, cannot cope any more and struggles with a stress-induced nervous breakdown. In Swansea the Guemars are victims of a series of racist attacks. While the children are settling down in their schools, quickly learning English and making friends, their parents anxiously wait, enduring hostility, uncertainty and even, yes, hope.