The Arrivals

France is one of the main destinations for refugees in Europe. Every year, up to 50,000 émigrés from all over the world apply for asylum in the country. Their first official port of call is a municipal reception centre for refugees which assigns them rooms in Parisian lodgings and takes them through the asylum application process. Two social workers called Colette and Caroline work at the centre. Each of them deals in their own way with the stressful situations they come across in their work. The excitable Caroline smokes a lot and sometimes cries. The chaotic and selfless Colette gets into disputes with management because of her clients. Remaining emotionally detached and maintaining a professional approach is not always easy. In this documentary, the two directors succeed in giving a very authentic depiction of a mutually intense and frustrating situation, in which desperate foreigners look for help from state officials, whose options and reserves of patience are nonetheless limited. This film won the main Golden Dove award at last year's DOK Leipzig festival.