Once more the plight of illegal immigrants reared its head at Sundance, this time in the documentary "Welcome Europa."
Bruno Ulmer tells the story of young, male illegal immigrants from Morocco, Iraq, Turkey, Romania etc. as they wander Europe looking for a better life and work. They travel, usually north, hoping that the next country will be more welcoming.
These are all once proud men who take to assorted lives of crime (prostitution, theft, whatever), because they cannot get jobs without papers. They sleep in boxes and abandoned cars when there isn't a shelter available.
Ulmer follows these men with his camera and also gives them candid opportunities to talk. Except for the ones who have been in Europe the longest and have given up most of their hope, each of them wants to work and send money home to help support his family.
There are moments of humanity and humor, of sudden friendship from fellow illegals, but mostly this is a harrowing story of poverty and inhumanity. It doesn't matter if the subjects are Kurds, Roma or Arabs, Ulmer reminds us that they are people.
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