The Hearing
May 26, 2023 | IMDB 2
93 min Watch NowDocumentary
After crossing 11 countries irregularly to seek asylum in Canada, Peggy, Simon and their three children are waiting for the hearing that will determine whether they get refugee status or not. Having fled political repression in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the family tries to rebuild a peaceful life in Montreal, in spite of the constant threat of deportation. Between ghosts from the past, hopes for the future, a complex legal maze and seemingly endless trial, the film delves into the struggle of the Nkunga Mbala family to remain in Canada. Offering unprecedented access to their hearing before the Immigration and Refugee Board, the film unveils the opaque process of claiming asylum in Canada.
MOVIE COMMENTS
SIMILAR MOVIES
Nanook of the North
72 Horas
Stranger at the Gate
Boisbouscache
Two Sisters
To Be and to Have
Neirud
Sieged: The Press vs. Denialism
Manhattan, Kansas
Shâd Bâsh
Where Dragons Live
Okimah
Reverberations
Familiar Phantoms
Only in Theaters
December
Saludos Amigos
Virunga
memories/fortress
I Am Gay
SIMILAR MOVIES
Nanook of the North
IMDB 7.1 | Jun , 1922
This pioneering documentary film depicts the lives of the indigenous Inuit people of Canada's northern Quebec region. Although the production contains some fictional elements, it vividly shows how its resourceful subjects survive in such a harsh climate, revealing how they construct their igloo homes and find food by hunting and fishing. The film also captures the beautiful, if unforgiving, frozen landscape of the Great White North, far removed from conventional civilization.72 Horas
IMDB 0 | Apr , 2024
Stranger at the Gate
IMDB 6.2 | Feb , 2022
A U.S. Marine plots a terrorist attack on a small-town American mosque, but his plan takes an unexpected turn when he comes face to face with the people he sets out to kill.Boisbouscache
IMDB 5 | Jun , 2022
The TNO (Unorganized Territory) Lac-Boisbouscache is a 150 square kilometer public forest located in the Lower St. Lawrence region of Quebec, Canada. Through the eyes of the forest's residents and users, the film paints a portrait of a territory that has long been coveted by private groups with diverse interests. Boisbouscache is a story of dispossession based on current commercial uses combined with the absence of any political will.Two Sisters
IMDB 0 | Jan , 2002
Violeta and Vyollca Dukay live in the south of Kosovo, close to the border with Albania. Faced with a very high unemployment in their country since the end of the war, they became deminers. They’ve been going to the minefields every day for six years now. The unique and very strong relationship that exists between the two sisters helps them to overcome their fear and to keep hoping in spite of the precariousness of their situation and the risks they run each day to earn their living.To Be and to Have
IMDB 7.3 | Aug , 2002
The documentary's title translates as "to be and to have", the two auxiliary verbs in the French language. It is about a primary school in the commune of Saint-Étienne-sur-Usson, Puy-de-Dôme, France, the population of which is just over 200. The school has one small class of mixed ages (from four to twelve years), with a dedicated teacher, Georges Lopez, who shows patience and respect for the children as we follow their story through a single school year.Neirud
IMDB 8 | Jun , 2023
Neirud died shrouded in mystery, leaving behind no trace of her past. Confronting family secrets, the filmmaker pieces together the life of her enigmatic aunt, who toured Brazil as a wrestler in an underground all-female circus troupe throughout the 60s and 80s. As she investigates Neirud's controversial ring persona, Gorilla Woman, the filmmaker uncovers a taboo-breaking love story, revealing the surprising nature of Neirud's role in her own family.Sieged: The Press vs. Denialism
IMDB 8.4 | Dec , 2020
Behind the scenes of news coverage during the pandemic. Follow the work of the professional press in a fight against denialism.Manhattan, Kansas
IMDB 0 | Mar , 2006
Filmmaker Evie Wray travels to rural Kansas in an attempt to reconnect with her mentally unstable mother, Evie, for the first time since Evie’s psychotic breakdown five years earlier. She finds a parent still chasing her demons, both real and imagined, struggling to make a career for herself as an abstract artist and searching for the Geodetic Center of the United States, the finding of which, Evie says, will bring about world peace.Shâd Bâsh
IMDB 0 | Mar , 2024
Where Dragons Live
IMDB 6.5 | Nov , 2024
Following the death of their parents, Harriet and her siblings must unpack their childhood fears as they prepare to sell their dragon-filled Oxfordshire home. Between the clutter and the boxes, the siblings find themselves haunted by the memories of their late parents: a dragon-obsessed father and an exacting mother, and the esoteric collections of objects they left behind.Okimah
IMDB 0 | Sep , 1998
This documentary focuses on the goose hunt, a ritual of central importance to the Cree people of the James Bay coastal areas. Not only a source of food, the hunt is also used to transfer Cree culture, skills, and ethics to future generations. Filmmaker Paul M. Rickard invites us along with his own family on a fall goose hunt, so that we can share in the experience.Reverberations
IMDB 0 | Mar , 2022
Thirty years after the end of the Lebanese Civil War (1975-1991), a filmmaker seeks to explore the trauma inflicted by the war on her family. Reverberations traces the history and politics of a nation in disarray in an intimate mother-daughter portrait that unravels the trauma that defined an era lost to history and a generation’s silence about its long-standing effects.Familiar Phantoms
IMDB 0 | Mar , 2023
Familiar Phantoms is an experimental documentary short film about memory, history and trauma.Only in Theaters
IMDB 5.7 | Nov , 2022
ONLY IN THEATERS, a film by actor/director Raphael Sbarge, is an intimate and moving journey taken with the Laemmle family, spanning nearly three years of challenges, losses, and personal triumphs. Laemmle Theatres, the beloved 84-year-old arthouse cinema chain 3rd generation family business in Los Angeles, is facing seismic change and financial pressure. Yet the family behind this multigenerational business – whose sole mission has been to support the art of film – is determined to survive.December
IMDB 0 | Jun , 2025
Amid December’s festive glow, refugees remain hidden in forests along the Poland-Belarus border. This powerful documentary gives voice to their silent cries.Saludos Amigos
IMDB 5.8 | Aug , 1942
A whimsical blend of live action and animation, "Saludos Amigos" is a colorful kaleidoscope of art, adventure and music set to a toe-tapping samba beat. From high Andes peaks and Argentina's pampas to the sights and sounds of Rio de Janeiro, your international traveling companions are none other than those famous funny friends, Donald Duck and Goofy. They keep things lively as Donald encounters a stubborn llama and "El Gaucho" Goofy tries on the cowboy way of life....South American-style.Virunga
IMDB 7.9 | Nov , 2014
Virunga in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is Africa’s oldest national park, a UNESCO world heritage site, and a contested ground among insurgencies seeking to topple the government that see untold profits in the land. Among this ongoing power struggle, Virunga also happens to be the last natural habitat for the critically endangered mountain gorilla. The only thing standing in the way of the forces closing in around the gorillas: a handful of passionate park rangers and journalists fighting to secure the park’s borders and expose the corruption of its enemies. Filled with shocking footage, and anchored by the surprisingly deep and gentle characters of the gorillas themselves, Virunga is a galvanizing call to action around an ongoing political and environmental crisis in the Congo.memories/fortress
IMDB 0 | Apr , 2020
An Indonesian student in London attempts to deal with the absurdity of confinement and immobility due to then-ongoing coronavirus lockdown by talking to his parents – who also face similar movement restrictions in Jakarta – over the phone.I Am Gay
IMDB 0 | Oct , 2020
After working abroad for five years, filmmaker Ajahnis Charley returns home to Oshawa, Ontario, in the age of quarantine. In addition to reuniting with his family, he returns with a mission to share some deep personal truths. Surprising conversations ensue with his mother and three siblings creating, in this humorous and heart-wrenching story about our need to seek love and acceptance within our own families.