Hostile (2022 film)

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Hostile
Theatrical release poster
Directed bySonita Gale
Produced by
Starring
  • Farrukh Sair
  • Daksha Varsani
  • Paresh Jethwa
CinematographyNeil Harvey
Edited by
  • Alex Fry
Distributed by
Release dates
  • 29 October 2021 (2021-10-29) (Raindance)
  • 21 January 2022 (2022-01-21) (UK)
Running time
97 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
Language
  • English

Hostile is a 2022 documentary film directed by Sonita Gale.[1] The film explores the UK government's 'hostile environment' immigration policy, first articulated in 2012 under the Cameron administration.[2] The film premiered on 29 October 2021 at the Raindance Film Festival.[3]

Synopsis[edit]

The film delves into the UK government's 'hostile environment' policy.[4] Told through the stories of four participants from Black and Asian backgrounds, the film explores how the lives of international students, members of the Windrush generation and so-called 'Highly-Skilled Migrants' have been affected.

The 'hostile environment' policy strategy was first employed by Theresa May in 2012, while she was Home Secretary in David Cameron's government. Speaking at the time, May stated that "The aim is to create, here in Britain, a really hostile environment for illegal immigrants."[2]

The film shows Farrukh Sair, an NHS IT engineer whose repeated visa applications have left him heavily in debt,[5] and Anthony Bryan, a member of the Windrush generation, who was denied his rights to live and work in the UK despite having lived in the country since he was 8.[6] Daksha and Paresh, who started a Community Response Kitchen to feed members of the migrant community struggling to buy food.[7] International students and a teacher also share their experiences anonymously.

A key focus of the film is NRPF, or 'no recourse to public funds'. Under section 115 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999, a person who is subject to immigration control cannot claim public funds such as benefits or housing assistance.[8] Hostile profiled the impact of this policy, and the particular problems that arose following the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic when many in the migrant community found themselves unable to work but were not eligible for Universal Credit, Disability Living Allowance, Child Benefit and Housing Benefit, among other things.

The director has said that the main aim of the film was "to build… bridges and to start dialogue… about our similarities and our differences."[9]

Gale has also discussed her upbringing and how this influenced the making of Hostile. As one of ten children born to a couple who left India for Wolverhampton following Partition, she strove to put migration and social change at the centre of her storytelling.[10]

Production[edit]

The film was written, directed and produced by London-based filmmaker Sonita Gale. Filming commenced shortly after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Gale has stated that she originally intended the film to look at the treatment of migrant workers, but that once she started filming, she shifted her focus to the 'hostile environment' policy more broadly.[11]

Nitin Sawhney and Charlotte Fisher were the film's executive producers, with Sawhney also providing music for the film.

Release[edit]

The film first premiered at Raindance Film Festival on 29 October 2021.

Distribution rights were acquired by BFI Player, VGTV, SBS, Public Media Group of Southern California, and Rialto. The film is currently available to stream on BFI Player.

The film was released to the general public on 21 January 21, 2022, screening at Picturehouse Cinemas and other independent cinemas across the UK, including BFI Southbank, Bertha Doc House and Curzon.[12][13]

Hostile director Sonita Gale has also participated in many Q&As at screenings, with figures including Nitin Sawhney, film critic Jason Solomons, John Sauven, campaigner Patrick Vernon, Ursula Macfarlane (director of Untouchable), UK Director of Human Rights Watch Yasmine Ahmed, Refugee Council CEO Enver Solomon, MP Stephen Timms, Bella Sankey, Maya Goodfellow, Sonali Naik, Zoe Gardner and activist Andrew Feinstein.[13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25]

She has also been interviewed by MP David Lammy for LBC.[26]

Reception[edit]

Critical response[edit]

The film was praised by critics. Awarding it four stars, The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw called Hostile a "powerful film" and "highly pertinent", while Time Out's Whelan Barzey described it as "a cry from the heart for a more compassionate attitude towards immigrants."[27][28]

Amelia Gentleman, a Guardian journalist who has reported extensively on the Windrush scandal, wrote that "Gale's portrayal of Sair's predicament is so clear and powerful that the pointless human damage wrought by these complexities is laid bare."[29]

The New European's Jason Solomons wrote "what's interesting about Hostile is its desire to dig deeper. Not content with highlighting the obvious indignities and cruelties of how the policy operates and how it leaves victims in desperate circumstances, but into why it is there in the first place."[30]

Mariella Frostrup of Times Radio called it "a film that demands our attention" and Abiba Coulibaly of Sight and Sound praised it as "one of the most comprehensive accounts of how we arrived at our current immigration system legislation."[31][10]

Journalist and former Channel 4 News presenter Jon Snow tweeted his approval of the film, calling it "important and revealing."[32] Mark Kermode named it his BFI Player Choice of the Week.[33]

Accolades[edit]

Award nominations for Work
Year Category Institution or publication Result Notes Ref.
2022 Outstanding Debut By A British Writer, Director or Producer BAFTA Longlisted [34]
2021 Best Debut Director BIFA Longlisted [35]
2021 Best Documentary BIFA Longlisted [36]
2021 Raindance Discovery Award BIFA Longlisted [37]
2022 Best Documentary Feature Filmocracy Fest 2022 Won [38]
2022 Best Documentary Feature The Roxbury International Film Festival 2022 Won [39]
2021 Best Documentary Feature South London Film Festival 2021 Won [40]
2022 Award of Excellence Special Mention The Impact DOCS Awards 2022 Won [41]
2022 Best Indie Feature Film Honourable Mention The Best Indie Film Awards 2022 Won [42]
2022 Supreme Award Melbourne Documentary Film Festival 2022 Nominated Finalist [43]
2022 Best Director - International Melbourne Documentary Film Festival 2022 Nominated Finalist [43]
2022 Finalist - Official Selection Catalina Film Festival 2022 Nominated Finalist [44]
2022 Best Documentary British Urban Film Festival 2022 Nominated Finalist [45]
2023 Official Selection Windrush Caribbean Film Festival [46]
2022 Official Selection Take One Action Film Festival [47]
2022 Official Selection Naples Human Rights Film Festival 2022 [48]
2022 Official Selection Red Carpet Human Rights Film Festival 2022 [49]
2022 Official Selection DOCtober 2022
2022 Official Selection Festival des Libertés 2022 [50]
2022 Official Selection New Generations Independent Indian Film Festival 2022
2022 Official Selection UK Asian Film Festival 2022 [51]
2022 Official Selection Budapest Movie Awards 2022 [52]
2022 Official Selection Manchester Film Awards 2022 [53]
2022 Official Selection ZagrebDox 2022 [54]
2022 Official Selection NorthwestFest International Documentary Film Festival 2022 [55]
2022 Official Selection Berlin Lift-Off Film Festival 2022 [56]
2021 Official Selection Cambridge Film Festival 2021 [57]
2021 Official Selection London Migration Film Festival 2021 [58]
2021 Official Selection Raindance Film Festival 2021 [59]
2021 Official Selection Global Health Film Festival 2022

[60]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Bradshaw, Peter (19 January 2022). "Hostile review – documentary highlights nastiness of UK immigration policy". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  2. ^ a b "What is the 'hostile environment'? An introduction to immigration policy in Britain". www.port.ac.uk. University of Portsmouth. 17 October 2022. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  3. ^ "Hostile + Q&A". www.raindance.org. Raindance. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  4. ^ Griffifths, Melanie; Yeo, Colin (11 January 2021). "The UK's hostile environment: Deputising immigration control". Critical Social Policy. 41 (4): 521–544. doi:10.1177/0261018320980653. S2CID 234294925.
  5. ^ Gentlemen, Amelia (21 January 2022). "'Waiting is mental torture': how Hostile exposes the human cost of Britain's immigration policies". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 January 2023.
  6. ^ Lawford, Emily (8 June 2020). "Who is Anthony Bryan? Victim of the Windrush scandal features in BBC drama Sitting In Limbo". Evening Standard. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  7. ^ "Daksha helps provide free meals for over 450,000 people". Language Is Everything.
  8. ^ "Who has no recourse to public funds (NRPF)?". www.nrpfnetwork.org.uk. NRPF Network. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
  9. ^ Ravindran, Jeevan (20 January 2022). "How a new documentary explores the UK's hostile environment through the eyes of those impacted". www.gal-dem.com. gal-dem. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  10. ^ a b Coulibaly, Abiba. "Sonita Gale on Hostile, her documentary about migrant experience in the UK". www.bfi.org.uk. Sight and Sound. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  11. ^ Ravindran, Jeevan (20 January 2022). "How a new documentary explores the UK's hostile environment through the eyes of those impacted". www.gal-dem.com. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  12. ^ "Hostile + Director Q&A". www.picturehouses.com. Picture House. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
  13. ^ a b "Hostile". www.dochouse.org. BERTHA DOCHOUSE. Retrieved 2023-01-19.
  14. ^ Solomons, Jason. "Jason Solomons on Twitter". www.twitter.com. Twitter. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
  15. ^ Hudspeth, Mick (20 September 2022). "A View from the Hill - 'Hostile' screening and Q&A". www.phca.cc. Primrose Hill Community Association. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
  16. ^ "Hostile (2022) | Q&A | SONITA GALE moderated by URSULA MACFARLANE". www.youtube.com. Galeforce Films. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
  17. ^ "HOSTILE (2022) | Q&A at BERTHA DOCHOUSE | SONITA GALE and NITIN SAWHNEY". www.youtube.com. Galeforce Films. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
  18. ^ "Fundraising Film Screening". www.kingalfred.org.uk. The King Alfred School. 16 March 2023. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
  19. ^ "Bella Sankey joins Dir.Sonita Gale in Brighton Screening". www.hostiledocumentary.com. 31 January 2022. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
  20. ^ Haire, Lucy (4 April 2022). "Review of Sonita Gale's documentary, 'Hostile' (selected UK cinemas, January to June 2022)". www.hepi.ac.uk. HEPI. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
  21. ^ "Maya Goodfellow joins Sonita Gale at Stratford Picturehouse". www.hostiledocumentary.com. 4 March 2022. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
  22. ^ "Hostile screens with the Refugee Council". www.hostiledocumentary.com. 6 March 2023. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
  23. ^ "Hostile Screening and Q&A". www.patrickvernon.org.uk. Patrick Vernon. 9 February 2022. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
  24. ^ "'Hostile' documentary Q&A with director Sonita Gale and Zoe Gardner, JCWI". www.youtube.com. Another Europe is Possible. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
  25. ^ "Hostile Screens at Glastonbury!". www.hostiledocumentary.com. 25 June 2022. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
  26. ^ "Hostile Director Sonita Gale interview with MP David Lammy on LBC". www.youtube.com. LBC. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
  27. ^ Bradshaw, Peter (21 January 2022). "Hostile review – documentary highlights nastiness of UK immigration policy". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  28. ^ Barzey, Whelan (21 January 2022). "Hostile". Time Out. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  29. ^ Gentleman, Amelia (21 January 2022). "'Waiting is mental torture': how Hostile exposes the human cost of Britain's immigration policies". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  30. ^ Solomons, Jason (3 February 2022). "The banality of hostility: A system designed to cause confusion". The New European. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  31. ^ Frostrup, Mariella. "'We are the worst country to be accepting refugees at this time'". www.youtube.com. Times Radio. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  32. ^ Snow, Jon. "An important and revealing film with critical questions and revelations about UK society in the 21st Century". Retrieved 19 January 2023 – via Twitter.
  33. ^ "Mark Kermode reviews Hostile (2022) | BFI Player". www.youtube.com. BFI. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
  34. ^ "Longlists, 2022 EE British Academy Film Awards". www.bafta.org. BAFTA. 16 December 2021. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  35. ^ Ritman, Alex (20 October 2021). "British Independent Film Awards 2021 New Talent Longlists Unveiled". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  36. ^ "BEST DOCUMENTARY LONGLIST 2021". BIFA. 26 October 2021. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  37. ^ "THE RAINDANCE DISCOVERY AWARD LONGLIST 2021". www.bifa.film. BIFA. 29 October 2021. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  38. ^ "HYBRID FILMOCRACY FEST III CONCLUDES AND AWARD WINNERS ANNOUNCED". Hollywood Glee. 21 July 2022. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  39. ^ "CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR 2022 FESTIVAL WINNERS!". www.roxfilmfest.com. The Roxbury International Film Festival. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  40. ^ "Hostile". www.takeoneaction.org.uk. Take One Action. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  41. ^ "Impact DOCS Awards". www.filmfestivals.com. The Film Festivals Portal. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  42. ^ "WINNERS OF THE BEST INDIE FILM AWARDS 2022". www.bestfilmawards.com. Best Film Awards. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  43. ^ a b "Hostile". www.mdff.org.au. Melbourne Documentary Film Festival. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  44. ^ "2022 Catalina Film Festival: Hostile". www.watch.eventive.org. Eventive.
  45. ^ "British Urban Film Festival partners with Rich Mix for 2022 edition". www.britishurbanfilmfestival.co.uk. BUFF. 12 August 2022. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  46. ^ "Windrush Caribbean Film Festival - Watch Hostile". www.windrushfilmfestival.com. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
  47. ^ "Hostile – Glasgow". www.takeoneaction.org.uk. Take One Action!. Retrieved 24 January 2023.
  48. ^ "Festival del Cinema dei Diritti Umani di Napoli online". cinenapolidiritti.online. Festival del Cinema dei Diritti Umani di Napoli. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  49. ^ "Hostile to Screen at the Red Carpet Human Rights Film Festival". hostiledocumentary.com. Hostile. 9 October 2022. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  50. ^ "HOSTILE". www.festivaldeslibertes.be. Festival des Liberties. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  51. ^ "Elevating South Asian voices: Hostile screens with Q&A at UK Asian Film Festival, Kiln Theatre". hostiledocumentary.com. Hostile. 6 May 2022. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  52. ^ "BUDAPEST FILM AWARDS". budapestfilmawards.com. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  53. ^ "Hostile". Manchester Film Festival. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  54. ^ "HOSTILE". zagrebdox.net. ZAGREBDOX. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  55. ^ "HOSTILE". www.northwestfest.ca. NorthwestFest. 5 May 2022. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  56. ^ "Hostile Film Screening". Jesus College Cambridge. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  57. ^ "Cambridge Film Festival 2021" (PDF). Cambridge Film Festival. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  58. ^ "London Migration Film Festival 2021 Live Programme". migrationcollective.com. Migration Collective. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  59. ^ "Hostile + Q&A". raindance.org. Raindance. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  60. ^ "GHFF2022". globalhealthfirm.org. Global Health Firm. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
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