Why we picked it – We were originally going to show The Truffle Hunters but it’s still not available to book. So here is an off-beat film about the refugee experience.

Synopsis – Four asylum seekers are marooned on a remote island in Scotland while awaiting the processing of their refugee claims. They are not allowed to work and their days are filled with attempts to call home (not always successfully) and interactions with the local community – some are friendly and well-meaning (including awkward cultural awareness classes), some are not. Among the refugees is Omar, a Syrian musician, who carries his grandfather’s oud with him wherever he goes.

The film – Limbo is the afterlife condition of those who die in original sin without being assigned to hell; and it is a good description of the refugees’ plight, cut off from family and home, with nothing to do but wait and wait. In researching this debut film, Sharrock found that many refugees took comfort in humour. So he has made a wry comedy-drama achieves the delicate balance between laughter and tears and         celebrates tolerance and perseverance. It avoids stereotypes, humanising the four characters who would all rather go home if they could. The island where the film is set is both bleak and beautiful, and it is difficult not to see Omar’s oud as a metaphor for the comforts and burdens of his heritage.

UK 2020 103 mins (12) Director and Writer: Ben Sharrock; Cast: Amir El-Masry, Vikash Bhai, Ola Orebiyi, Kwabene Ansah; Cinematography: Nick Cooke.

Links– imdb entry Guardian review New York Times

Trivia – Director Ben Sharrock lived in Damascus for the third year of his Arabic and politics degree until the break-out of civil war in 2011 and has subsequently worked in refugee camps in Algeria.