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Short film
Poster for Refuge(e)

Refuge(e)

2019 · 15 min

A sobering, human-scale documentary that makes abstract border policy feel painfully personal and urgent.

Directed by
Sylvia Johnson
Genres
Documentary
Starring
Alpha, Zeferino
Overview
Refuge(e) traces the incredible journey of two refugees, Alpha and Zeferino. Each fled violent threats to their lives in their home countries and presented themselves at the US border asking for political asylum, only to be incarcerated in a for-profit prison for months on end without having committed any crime. Thousands more like them can't tell their stories.

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In the UKNo streaming, rental or purchase options known.
Directed by
Sylvia Johnson
Genres
Documentary
Starring
Alpha, Zeferino
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How it feels

Written by AI. It can be wrong.

Tone
  • bleakstrength 3 of 3
  • melancholicstrength 2 of 3
  • tensestrength 2 of 3
  • earneststrength 1 of 3
Pacing
measured, 2 of 4, from slow-burn to relentless
Attention
engaged, 3 of 4, from background-friendly to demanding
Themes
  • isolation
  • survival
  • justice
  • immigration
  • trauma
Places
  • prison
  • big city
Era
contemporary
Audience
adult
Form
  • true story
Content intensity
  • Gore none
  • Language mild
  • Violence mild
  • Sex none
All scales, 0 to 10
Scales, 0 to 10
ScaleValue0 to 10
Action1
Horror3
Humour0
Realism9
Romance0
Tension6
Darkness8
Complexity4
Emotional weight9

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Where to watch in the UK

No UK streaming, rental or purchase options are known.

Streaming data from JustWatch.TMDB

Details

Genres
documentary
Directed by
Sylvia Johnson
Written by
Sylvia Johnson
Starring
Alpha, Zeferino
Music
Joachim Horsely
Runtime
15 min
Country
United States of America
Languages
English

TMDBIMDb