20 min / documentary / 2009 / Belgium (English subtitles)
filmmaker: Brecht Vanmeirhaeghe
Beyond Borders is a strong poet mosaic narration representing three people of different ethnic origin having a physical or mental disability.
Al Amin was born in Iraq just before the war. He was born with Down syndrome along with a heart disease. When war breaks out, his mother flees to Belgium. Her only goal is the survival of her son.
Elena is 22 when she flees from Uzbekistan to Belgium with her little son. After half a year the first symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis are diagnosed.
Mohamed is born in Morocco and soon comes to Belgium. He is blind, but has a strong spirit. His dream is to run a marathon.
“Beyond Borders takes you beyond the dividing lines between people. It breaks through the walls of indifference and insensibility. This film simply leaves no one untouched.” Dirk Tieleman, Belgian TV journalist.
Sam has a passion to be a dancer, but is too shy to realize her dreams. When Peaches (her magical inner-diva-cum-drag queen) materializes on one night, Sam’s dreams transform into reality.
Daisy waits in a bar for her online date – he is late. A man offers her a drink and she mistakes him for the date who has stood her up.
Tom holds a secret in his human heart; a wing beat and a flutter, and it’s bursting to take flight in this tale of magical realism.
Lou may have Down’s Syndrome but she is more than capable of looking after herself and she longs for independence.
A teenage girl who feels left out and ignored by her peers, is inspired to do something audacious in order to get noticed.
A playful and unsentimental portrait of Rene, a young man with Down syndrome, made by his close friend Duane Graves.
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