In This World

Winterbottom's film is distinguished by its simplicity. Two Afghan refugees from a teeming camp in western Pakistan make an illicit, expensive and incredibly arduous overland journey towards a prospective new life as asylum seekers in Britain. The widescreen DV camera records it all, as they evade Iranian security forces, trek over snowy mountains into Turkey and brave a nightmare passage in a container ship across the Mediterranean. Knowing we're watching genuine Afghans playing themselves intensifies sympathy for their plight, though wondering whether this evidently compassionate production is exploiting their situation for dramatic effect slightly nullifies the film's piercing effectiveness. An eye-opener none the less.