CZizincii/ WEmigrants

In late 2014, a new wave of refugees coming from war devastated countries in the middle east assailed Europe, creating a continental crisis, that started a heated debate, that shook the foundations of the Schengen area, and strengthened nationalist, euro skepticist and Islamophobic feelings that divided European citizens. Ironically enough, countries that in the past had many of their natives escaping war and totalitarian regimes, ended up being more critical, with their heads of state or government openly opposing or criticizing the solidarity positions from other EU members, and threatening to close their borders and calling for referendums to leave the Union. One of these countries was the Czech Republic, one of Europe’s youngest republics, but with a long history of exile, oppression and forced migration. This film analyzes migration in this country, from the days after the warsaw pact invasion to crush the Prague spring, till the recent Brexit referendum, not only from the point of view of former Czech migrants that seeked for political asylum abroad to escape communism, but also foreigners who found their home and built their life here, making it a very insightful portrait of tolerance, discrimination and multiculturalism in one of Europe’s least cosmopolitan societies.