Cinema as a Lens for Integration: From 'Limbo' to 'L'Appartamento – Sold Out'

A new Rai series, 'L'Appartamento – Sold Out', directed by Giulio Manfredonia and Francesco Apolloni, premieres on RaiPlay on November 28, exploring forced cohabitation among three culturally diverse couples as a political space. The article surveys recent films that address migration and integration as inner experiences: 'Limbo' (2020) by Ben Sharrock follows refugees on a Scottish island; 'Minari' (2020) by Lee Isaac Chung, winner of the Sundance Grand Jury Prize, depicts a Korean-American family in 1980s Arkansas; 'Drift' (2023) by Anthony Chen stars Cynthia Erivo as a Liberian refugee on a Greek island; 'Fremont' (2023) by Babak Jalali features Anaita Wali Zada and Jeremy Allen White as an Afghan interpreter in California. Films portraying conflict include 'Tori et Lokita' (2022) by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne about migrant friendship in Belgium, and 'The Old Oak' (2023) by Ken Loach set in a former English mining village with Syrian refugees. The article argues that integration is a daily, provisional equilibrium.