Arriving on the shores of France is merely the beginning of a labyrinthian journey for more than 50,000 refugees seeking asylum through the municipal reception center in Paris each year. Cultures collide as refugees from the Congo, Chechnya, Sri Lanka and Ethiopia meet with well-intentioned but overwhelmed European social workers. Asylum seekers hoping to leave behind a life filled with war and famine, persecution and poverty find themselves forced to comply with a bureaucratic logic that resembles another kind of torment, and their social workers, faced with dwindling reserves of options and patience, are at risk of collapsing under the sheer number of new applicants. The film investigates CAFDA, the municipal reception centre for asylum-seeking families, by following the daily life of the asylum seekers and simultaneously exposes the persecution, political oppression and human misery outside Europe.
Claudine Bories started theatre actress, later she worked as curator and film festival organisator. 1990–2002 she took over production and distribution of documentary films for Peripherie in Montreuil. Since 1976 she works as documentary and feature film director.
Every Other Saturday (1998), Sir Against Madam (1999), Juliette from the Men's Side (1999), Women of the Twelve Frontiers (2003), And Our Dreams (2007, co-director Patrice Chagnard), The Arrivals (2009, co-director Patrice Chagnard)
Patrice Chagnard was born in 1946. As teenager founded the Grenoble filmclub and in 1967 he started studying Philosophy at Sorbonne, Paris, where he also did his debut short film. In 1969–1972 he traveled to Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. These travel experiences and impressions had much influence on his further work. Since 1977 he is documentary filmmaker.
Swami-Ji, an Inner Voyage (1983), The Convoy (1995), Jean-Paul Kauffmann (1997), In the Red Truck (2006), And Our Dreams (2007, co-director Claudine Bories), The Arrivals (2009, co-director Patrice Chagnard)
