An Afghani woman waits in a Tehran slum, afraid that her pregnancy will disqualify her from being trafficked across the border to the north, the first step on the long journey to be reunited with her husband. In Greece, an Iranian family live at the mercy of the human trafficker they hope will smuggle them to mainland Europe. In London, an Algerian who has overstayed his visa is torn from his partner, a Polish trainee vet who arrived in the UK before her country was part of the EU. Across the city, a UK Immigration Service interpreter faces emotional and ethical challenges with his own Arabic heritage while trying to assist immigrants and asylum seekers.
There are countless millions of migrant stories, all of them worth telling; this award-winning, crowdfunded film written and directed by the Iranian-born Amin Bakhshian and Brit Kyla Simone Bruce (daughter of the late Cream bassist Jack Bruce) shines a light on just four of them, each as riveting – and dispiriting – as the next.
They are stories of lives in limbo, of ordinary human beings existing from day to day, crippled by uncertainty, disenfranchised by their undocumented status, living in fear of discovery and deportation, and in hope of a better life for themselves and their families.
The anthology format creates the perfect window into this world, while the lack of soundtrack and natural performances provide a level of realism and authenticity that would put some other docs to shame. ‘Undocument’ is a significant addition to the growing number of urgent, timely films on the global migrant crisis.