Watched this again last night in honour of having just seen Zlatko Burić again in Triangle of Sadness.

I've seen this film countless times now and I appreciate that it still brings me new perspectives. When I first saw it, I was just a few years older than Senay and wanted to believe it was a love story and that if only their circumstances were different, she and Okwe could be together. Like Senay, I overlooked the obvious: that he cares for her but not in that way; that she is young and naive, and that's not something that can be overcome by the power of love.

I also like that Senay, while her life is limited by low income and the wrong passport, does not appear to be fleeing persecution. She could have been written as a more 'deserving' character with a tragic back story. But she is enough as she is. She is still targeted for multiple forms of exploitation and intimidation simply because of the grip that borders have on her life. It's been 20 years since this film was made but people are still failing to grasp this angle.