Dheepan

Screenings

2016 Season
Toronto

Winner of the Palme d'Or at last year's Cannes, this powerful drama from director Jacques Audiard (A Prophet, Rust & Bone) follows a former Tamil Tiger soldier as he flees from the aftermath of the Sri Lankan civil war to begin a new life in a Parisian suburb. What happens to the millions of migrants who flee conflict zones to find new homes in the cities of the West? In the case of the Tamil family at the centre of the searing new film from Jacques Audiard (A Prophet, Rust & Bone), conflict is never far behind. Seeking to flee Sri Lanka at the end of the country's civil war, a Tamil soldier (Jesuthasan Antonythasan) convinces two fellow refugees to pose as members of his family, which allows the trio to fool aid workers and win a passage to France. Once settled in the outskirts of Paris, they must use their hard-won survival skills to navigate their crime-ridden housing complex. Securing their position in a new country means making their false family real, but past violence and present threats combine to exert a rising pressure that is bound to explode.

Filmmaker(s): 
Jacques Audiard
Country of Production: 
France
Year: 
2015
114m
Language(s): 
English/Tamil/French
Genre: 
Drama