The Other Europe

Americans are not alone when it comes to confronting immigration challenges. Poul-Erik Heilbuth's documentary The Other Europe highlights problems facing several European countries that find themselves struggling with large numbers of illegal immigrants who are ready and able to do low-paying menial work, yet whose presence creates significant social and political turmoil. Key to the film is the February 2004 tragedy in which 23 illegal Chinese immigrants drowned in England's Morecambe Bay while picking cockles. Stranded by the incoming tide, several of the Chinese had cell phones, but were afraid to call the British coast guard out of fear of being discovered—instead, they called families in China to say a final goodbye (the film later travels to the Chinese village where many of the dead men and women came from, and features footage shot without the permission of the Chinese government, which prefers not to acknowledge the illegal immigration problem). The Other Europe also journeys to Spain and Germany, where numerous attempts have failed to halt the tide of undocumented workers pouring in from Africa and Eastern Europe. The data is staggering: for every illegal immigrant deported by Germany, for instance, an estimated eight others manage to sneak into the country. The Other Europe takes a mature, objective, and highly focused look at the economic, political, and human aspects of the illegal immigration situation in Europe, and the resulting portrait is more than a little disturbing. Highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (P. Hall)