In This World

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In This World DVD cover

In This World is a 2002 British docu-drama directed by Michael Winterbottom. The film tells the story of two Afghan young men, Jamal Udin Torabi and Enayatullah as they leave a refugee camp in Pakistan for a better life in England. However, as their journey is illegal, they must use back-channels, bribes, and smugglers to achieve their goal. Their journey is fraught with danger, and ends, both in disaster, and in hope, for a new life in a new world.

Production of the movie, which was in the language of the subjects of the film (Persian and Pashtu), was very simple and low-key. All but a few of the actors, including the two leads, were non-professionals: most people played fictionalised versions of themselves. The production team lied to authorities in several countries in order to secure filming rights. In some instances, both whereby they met government resistance (in Iran and Pakistan), and in areas rife with illegal activity, Winterbottom used guerilla filmmaking techniques to catch the necessary footage, with some of those appearing being unaware they were being shot for a film. Much of the character interaction in these scenes were improvised and in reality expose some of the underground, back-room dealing that takes place in immigrant smuggling.

The film is nominally a drama in that it was pre-planned. In other senses, it can be looked at as a documentary, in terms of what was being portrayed being factual, and in some instances where what was seen was completely real. In a case of life imitating art (imitating life), after returning to Pakistan, Jamal Udin Torabi made the journey to London for real , applied for asylum. He is now living with a family in South East London, although he is scheduled to have to leave the UK after his 18th birthday.

The film was released in England in March 2003 by the BBC after festival screenings in 2002. It was released in the United States in a limited amount of cities in September 2003 by Lions Gate as part of the short-lived Sundance Film Series partnership experiment with Loews Cineplex Entertainment. The film did not make much money, but was highly regarded by the critics that were able to screen it.