The Citizen (Az allampolgar) (NR)

synopsis

In this timely narrative, a culturally biased citizenship exam promises to be the undoing of middle-aged African immigrant Wilson (first-time actor Cake-Baly, who brings breathtaking grace and nuance to the role). Wilson fled the civil war that killed his family and now works as a security guard in a Budapest supermarket, striving to become a full-fledged citizen of his new country. This touching humanist drama exposes the unwelcoming climate that greets many immigrants to Europe, as Wilson finds a sympathetic teacher and prospective lover in lonely abused wife Mari (Máhr). Coping with the daily needling of exclusion and racism, he makes the dangerous misstep of giving shelter to an illegal immigrant, a young pregnant Iranian. In Hungarian with English subtitles.