There are one million Afghan refugees living in Peshawar, just inside the Pakistani border. Many of them came here in October 2001, when the Americans began bombing their country. Michael Winterbottom’s film was shot using a digital camera at original locations; it tells the story of two such refugees. Jamal and Enayat are cousins. Jamal, the younger of the two, is an orphan; he lives in a refugee camp and spends his days working at brickworks. Enayat sells electrical goods on his father’s market stall. He is to be sent to England to have a shot at a better way of life. Thanks to his powers of persuasion and his knowledge of English, Jamal is allowed to accompany his cousin on his journey. Their route, which has been planned by professional people traffickers, is by land. Although the journey overland may be more exhausting and more dangerous, it is also considerably cheaper. After an initial attempt fails, they eventually manage to cross the border from Pakistan into Iran hidden on buses and lorries; from Teheran they travel through Kurd country on foot and over the mountain into Turkey. Theirs is an old smugglers’ route; once part of the “Silk Road”, it is still used to smuggle car parts, oil, opium and tobacco to the West. The two boys arrive in Istanbul where a whole new world opens up before them but the problems are not finished.
