Limbo

Four asylum seekers are sent to a small Scottish island to await their cases. Farhad is a huge Freddy Mercury fan who has escaped Afghanistan. Wasef and Abedi left Nigeria. And Omar, a rising Oud musician, fled Syria. The passing time fuels their growing anxiety and floods Omar with guilt over his family, his brother fighting back home, and his desire to realize his dreams. Ben Sharrock presents one of the most talked-about British films of the past year. Though the premise is dramatic, the direction - with neutral camera positions and almost expressionless acting - is reminiscent of the subtle humor of Kaurismaki or Elia Suleiman's sharpness and human observation. With overcast landscapes, a combination of melancholy and scorn, and great humanity, Limbo is "witty, poignant, marvellously composed and shot, moving and even weirdly gripping" (The Guardian).