I Was a Stranger

Dec 31, 2025

1h 43m

★ 6.5

Based on 14 million true stories.

Overview

A Syrian doctor and her daughter flee Aleppo, setting off a chain of events that binds five strangers together. A smuggler, a soldier, a poet, and a coast guard captain collide in a crisis that tests their courage, their choices, and their humanity.

Genres

Drama

Thriller

Production Companies

Philistine Films

SPACE + ART Entertainment

REEL Foundation

Karma Films

Angel Studios

I Was a Stranger Trailers

Cast

Amira Homsi

Yasmine Al Massri

Mustafa

Yahya Mahayni

Marwan

Omar Sy

Fathi

Ziad Bakri

Stavros

Constantine Markoulakis

Dr. Kroft

Jason Beghe

Shaheen

Ayman Samman

Rasha Homsi

Massa Daoud

Helena

Angeliki Papoulia

Alaa

Saleh Bakri

Papa Homsi

Jay Abdo

Charoula

Vicky Papadopoulou

Rocky is a talented boxer, but is forced to quit boxing for being an asylum seeker. Rocky starts a new life when his coach tries to build him a career and life while staying afloat in Hong Kong. Helping with moving and volunteer work, he gets to know other tenants like Raja and Bitto and hears about their life stories. He realises that they have nothing left but he still has boxing - and that calling has never stopped.

6.0

The Boat Is Full

Jan 15, 1981

During World War II, Switzerland severely limited refugees: "Our boat is full." A train from Germany halts briefly in an isolated corner of Switzerland. Six people jump off seeking asylum: four Jews, a French child, and a German soldier. They seek temporary refuge with a couple who run a village inn. They pose as a family: the deserter as husband, Judith as his wife, an old man from Vienna as her father, his granddaughter and the French lad, whom they beg to keep silent, as their children. Judith's teenage brother poses as a soldier. The fabrication unravels through chance and the local constable's exact investigation. Whom will the Swiss allow to stay? Who gets deported?

10.0

Open Cage

Jun 13, 2015

Anna, a young photojournalist from Berlin, travels to Serbia to make a photo documentary about refugees. Upon her arrival to Belgrade, Serbia's capital, Anna finds out that she can't go about her task the way she had planned. Through the cabdriver Dzeki, she meets the distrustful but interesting young refugee Maja who works at a nearby fast food restaurant. Miserable with her life in Serbia, Maja dreams of a new beginning somewhere abroad. In an attempt to successfully finish her project, Anna starts photographing Maja, secretly making a documentary about her. Blinded by the wish to change her life, Maja doesn't realize Anna's true intentions.

5.8

Death of a Scoundrel

Oct 31, 1956

A Czech refugee uses women to advance his business interest.

0.0

Mama

Invalid Date

Sasha, a refugee from Ukraine, flees to New York City to pursue his dream of becoming an actor, setting up camp under a bridge. As he grapples with the guilt of leaving his home and family behind, he gets an unexpected visitor.

5.8

Arch of Triumph

Feb 17, 1948

In the winter of 1938, Paris is crowded with refugees from the Nazis, who live in the black shadows of night, trying to evade deportation. One such is Dr. Ravic, who practices medicine illegally and stalks his old Nazi enemy Haake with murder in mind. One rainy night, Ravic meets Joan Madou, a kept woman cast adrift by her lover's sudden death. Against Ravic's better judgment, they become involved in a doomed affair.

7.6

Kannathil Muthamittal

Feb 14, 2002

A little girl is told by her parents that she is adopted. Determined to find her birth mother, her family eventually agrees to take her to Sri Lanka, where they encounter the militant group known as the Tamil Tigers.

0.0

Thai Nilam

Jun 21, 2021

A father and his daughter came to India as refugees post-war in their country. Few good hands help them to rebuild their lifestyle.

5.8

For a Moment, Freedom

Aug 29, 2008

Centers on a group of weary Middle Eastern refugees who have made their way to Turkey to apply for European visas.

8.4

Unwanted

Sep 14, 2017

A lonely boy, who lives in Amsterdam with his refugee mother from Kosovo, keeps getting into trouble while yearning for her acceptance. But the traumas caused by the war, which his mother hides away from him, turn his world upside down.

6.0

Beautiful People

Sep 16, 1999

In London, during October 1993, England is playing Holland in the preliminaries of the World Cup. The Bosnian War is at its height, and refugees from the ex-Yugoslavia are arriving. Football rivals, and political adversaries from the Balkans all precipitate conflict and amusing situations. Meanwhile, the lives of four English families are affected in different ways by encounter with the refugees.

5.3

Loving Glances

Sep 19, 2003

Swan is a lonely Serbian refugee in Belgrade. He hopes for a visa to follow his long-lost fiancée to Chicago, but winds up at the Happy Millennium dating agency. A warm romantic comedy with a twist.

0.0

The Journal

Sep 20, 2025

An American veteran of the Vietnam War returns a precious keepsake to the daughter of an enemy solider, 50 years later. The film stars Elyse Dinh, a refugee of the war, and Brian Delate, a veteran of the war. Directed, written, and produced by James Andrews.

6.5

Journey for Margaret

Dec 17, 1942

An American newspaperman and his wife, end up in London after several retreats in the opening days of WWII. After a shrapnel wound and loss of her baby she returns to America. War weary, he is forced to do a story about war orphans, where he meets Margaret.

6.1

Delbaran

Feb 1, 2001

Acclaimed director Abolfazl Jalili offers a compassionate story of the young Afghan refugee who lives illegally in Iran. 14-year-old Kaim drifts to the Delbaran crossing on the Afghan-Iran border, where he finds work at a coffee shop frequented by truck drivers. He feels at home in this small oasis of friendliness, though the sounds of war can be heard in the background, violent bandits prowl the roads, and opium is everywhere. As we watch Kaim run from one task to another day after day, we soon realize that we are watching a boy who is being cheated out of his childhood.

5.2

Up at the Villa

Apr 14, 2000

Superficial people are revealed and drastically changed by circumstance or luck in this a tale of death, seduction, blackmail and theft among British and Americans in Florence in the turbulent days just before World War II.

5.6

Patria

Oct 12, 2015

A movie about sinners and their quest for salvation. But God is hard to find.

6.5

The House by the Sea

Nov 29, 2017

By a little bay near Marseille lies a picturesque villa owned by an old man. His three children have gathered by his side for his last days. It’s time for them to weigh up what they have inherited of their father’s ideals and the community spirit he created in this magical place. The arrival, at a nearby cove, of a group of boat people will throw these moments of reflection into turmoil.