Sorius Samura has directed a new documentary for channel four called Living With Illegals. It documents his experience living among illegal immigrants from Africa as they cross from Morocco into Europe for month, under dangerous and gruelling circumstance, for a chance at life in the West. The illegal asylum-seekers, on a journey to transform their lives - across continents, risk everything along the way knowing that there is perhaps no future in sight.  By documenting this for a reality tv audience, he attempts to displace the vision of the voyeur by bringing himself - i.e. the viewer - into the lives of those he chooses to document - ironically those without any documents.  The result, captured on film, is a depressing portrait on the state of human trafficking and global migration today - an issue that remains under the radar and flipped into an argument against convenience and for stricter border control by nation-states.

Even if the piece starts to echo of self-indulgence (Samura’s insistence on directing his own trials as a refugee for a month vs. those who’ve done it repeatedly), it’s worth a watch. Just be ready for a persistently gloomy picture. The full feature airs on Channel Four in the UK on 27 March at 8pm.

Living With Illegals from GLaDOS on Vimeo.