This film is part of Rentals
Welcome to Britain
Ben Lewin’s 1976 film captures a moment in Britain's evergreen immigration debate, focusing on new arrivals at Heathrow as they wrestle with immigration law.
Director: Ben Lewin
Overview
About half a mile from Heathrow Airport is Harmondsworth detention centre where the visitors in Ben Lewin’s 1976 film are unceremoniously dumped while government officials ponder British immigration laws. The visitors mostly come from India, Pakistan, and Cyprus and are treated like criminals.
Lewis mixes interviews with some of the ‘inmates’ with profiles of the then minister for immigration, Alex Lyon, and the controversial figure of Reuben Davis, the tabloid-styled ‘Immigrants’ Mr Fixit’, structuring the film around the escalating confrontation between Davis and the detainees on one side and Lyon and his bureaucracy on the other. An early credit in the career of acclaimed cinematographer Roger Deakins (Fargo, Sicario, Skyfall), Welcome to Britain was an insightful film upon its release in 1976 but it remains equally fascinating today seen in the context of the continuing immigration debate.
Related
Rebel Dread Rebel Dread
Documentary 2021 83 mins Director: William E. Badgley
This is the story of the iconic Don Letts, the coolest cultural polymath – narrated by the man himself.
Wilding Wilding
Documentary 2024 75 mins Director: David Allen
A dying landscape is healed against all odds, going on to thrive in astonishing ways, in this hopeful story of ecological regeneration.
Mifune : The Last Samurai Mifune : The Last Samurai
Documentary 2016 80 mins Director: Steven Okazaki
The on and off-screen character of Toshiro Mifune, Japan’s first international movie star, is explored in this illuminating documentary.
100 Years of Japanese Cinema 100 Years of Japanese Cinema
Documentary 1996 52 mins Director: Nagisa Oshima
Archive propels argument in this fascinating exploration of the social and cultural importance of Japan's film heritage.
Varda by Agnès Varda by Agnès
Biopic 2018 115 mins Director: Agnès Varda
In her final film, Agnès Varda offers a personal insight into her oeuvre, using excerpts from her work to illustrate her unique artistic visions and ideas.
Sudan, Remember Us Sudan, Remember Us
Documentary 2024 78 mins Director: Hind Meddeb
An award-winning documentary following young activists in Sudan as they oppose a military crackdown.
Brothers in Trouble Brothers in Trouble
Drama 1996 103 mins Director: Udayan Prasad
Udayan Prasad's perceptive 1995 drama follows Amir (Pavan Malhotra), a Pakistani immigrant living in England and adjusting to his new life - including meeting an Irish girl who moves into his boarding house.
All in Good Time All in Good Time
Comedy 2012 94 mins Director: Nigel Cole
A pair of newlyweds endure a honeymoon staying with the groom's parents in a comedy from East Is East writer Ayub Khan-Din.
East Is East East Is East
Comedy 1999 97 mins Director: Damien O'Donnell
Damien O'Donnell's charming comedy-drama about Zaheed Khan (Om Puri), the patriarch of a Pakistani-British family whose children begin to reject their heritage and embrace UK life.
A Private Enterprise A Private Enterprise
Drama 1975 72 mins Director: Peter K. Smith
The trials and tribulations of Shiv, a South Asian entrepreneur trying to set up a business in industrial Birmingham
My Pure Land My Pure Land
Drama 2017 98 mins Director: Sarmad Masud
Britain's 2018 submission for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar was this Pakistan-shot western with a feminist twist, centring on a bitter land dispute between an extended family.
Diego Maradona Diego Maradona
Documentary 2019 124 mins Director: Asif Kapadia
The supreme football superstar is the latest subject for acclaimed filmmaker Asif Kapadia (Amy, Senna), as he deftly explores the complicated dynamic between Diego the man and Maradona the icon.
Rodeo Rodeo
Drama 2022 106 mins Director: Lola Quivoron
French debut director Lola Quivoron revs up with a ferocious tale of a woman kickstarting a new life in the world of guerrilla motocross racing.
Clemency Clemency
Drama 2019 112 mins Director: Chinonye Chukwu
Alfre Woodard is quietly devastating as a weary prison warden presiding over her twelfth execution, in this Sundance-winning death row drama.
Ida Ida
Drama 2014 82 mins Director: Pawel Pawlikowski
An exquisitely shot, moving drama about a Polish nun exploring her family past, which won a BAFTA for director Pawel Pawlikowski.
Plan 75 Plan 75
Science Fiction 2022 113 mins Director: Chie Hayakawa
Faced with a rapidly ageing population, a government in near-future Japan rolls out an unsettling agenda.
Cairo Conspiracy Cairo Conspiracy
Drama 2022 126 mins Director: Tarik Saleh
A fisherman’s son is offered a place at a prestigious Islamic school in Cairo and finds himself drawn into a religious and political power struggle.
The Night of the 12th The Night of the 12th
Drama 2022 114 mins Director: Dominik Moll
A newly promoted detective is assigned to a young woman’s chilling murder in this deeply arresting crime thriller based on true events.