On Facebook they call themselves 'asylum seekas': youngsters who have fled to The Netherlands and have spent their entire youth in immigration centers. Now they miss that period in their lives. While a chill wind blew through the Dutch immigration policy, the center was their home. In that secluded environment they spent day and night together, played and formed intense friendships.
After years of living in uncertainty many have ended up in villages and suburbs, spread out throughout the country. Suddenly miles apart, they each have to find their own way. Through social media they connect and share their hopes, thoughts and memories.
Filmmaker Sergej Kreso, who himself once fled from Bosnia to The Netherlands, takes us into the world of four asylum seekas who stand at a crossroad between the past and a future they will have to create in The Netherlands. This documentary makes a cinematic journey through their lives, in which beautiful and painful memories of their days at the immigration center are intercut with their dreams and ambitions. While one works on a career in music or dance, another dreams of the ideal husband. But whatever the future holds in store for them, these asylum seekas all stand for one thing: they are here, they speak out and nothing will get them down.
This production was realised with the support of the Dutch Cultural Media Fund and CoBO
Produced by Zuidenwind Filmproductions in coproduction with IKON
13 November 2015 - Eastern Neighbours Film Festival, The Hague
13 October 2015 - Movies that Matter together with FLOOR and UAF
6 October 2015 - De Binder (Leersum) in collaboration with 'Stichting de Vrolijkheid' and AZC Leersum
18 June 2015 - Festival of Migrant Film - Ljubljana, Slovenia
13 June 2015 - Screenings at several asylum centers in the Netherlands
9 May 2015 - 12.00 - Information day about refugees organized by SSR-Leiden - Hooglandse kerk, Leiden
23 January - 20:00 - NWE Vorst, Tilburg
21 February 2015 - 22.30 - DOCfeed, Eindhoven
5 February - 21:15 - Natlab, Eindhoven
4 December - 20:30 - Kriterion Rotterdam, Schotersboshof 25
15 November screened for one month at the Tongerlohuys - Roosendaal
7 November - 20:00 - De Nieuwe Liefde - Amsterdam
Asylum Seekas was broadcasted on February 4th 2015 on Dutch NPO2.
Asylum Seekas had its premiere at the Nederlands Film Festival 2014.
For all questions regarding viewings, high-resolution stills, the press release, the logo and the trailer in various formats, please contact:
For sales inquiries please contact Rob Maas :
rob@zuidenwind.nl