The Eleven Films About Refugees You Need To See
They're less depressing than the real thing.
The Visitor (2007)
After writer/director Tom McCarthy helped unleash Peter Dinklage on the world with 2003 indie classic The Station Agent, he used his knack for witty dialogue and savvy ground-level views of suburban life for this heartfelt look at immigration in post 9/11 America.
Walter (Richard Jenkins), a lonely Connecticut College professor, befriends a Palestinian-Syrian drummer (Haaz Sleiman) and his girlfriend (Danai Gurira), a Senegalese jewelry designer, after he discovers them living in his New York apartment. Both are world travellers and free spirits who teach Walter to let down his hair and groove to Afrobeat, but soon the pair’s precarious situation – including harassment by the authorities and a stint in a detention centre – crashes the party.