In Calais, France, there is a group of refugees from the Kurdish region of Iraq who are guarded and excluded by the vast majority of French people. Bilal (Firat Ayverdi), a 17-year-old football fan, is one of these refugees. Bilal dreams of going to the UK. After failing to sneak across the border by truck, he begins to learn swimming and meets Simon (Vincent Lindon), a Frenchman. Simon is a swimming coach in the swimming pool. He is attracted by Bilal's seriousness and gradually develops a liking for this young man. When Simon learns that Bilal is learning to swim in order to cross the English Channel, he tries to dissuade him. However, when he learns that Bilal is going to the UK to see his girlfriend Mina, Simon, who is going through the divorce procedure, decides to help him... This film won the European Film Icon Award and the Catholic Humanitarian Award at the 2009 Berlin Film Festival.