Immigrant Story

Screened at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival in the Contemporary World Cinema category, the French drama Eastern Boys stars Kirill Emelyanov, Danil Vorobyev and Olivier Rabourdin, who’s best known for his work in the Taken movies. It follows a group of immigrant boys who loiter around a Paris train station after forming a fiercely loyal gang for their own support and protection, as they are afraid that they could be deported. However, the film focuses on a French man who invites one of the hustler boys from the train station to his home, unaware he’s fallen into a trap. According to the New York Times, it “explores interlocking themes of sexuality, immigration, and power dynamics with a clear sensitivity.” This absorbing film centers on the contrast between the hugely different circumstances of the older man and the young boy who both live in the same city. It screens at 6:45 tonight at the Cleveland Museum of Art. Tickets are $9. (Elizabeth Manno)