Fahim

Fahim (2019) is a French family drama based on a true story — stream it online on iFILM. Assad Ahmed plays Fahim Mohammad, a boy from Bangladesh who arrives in Paris as an undocumented asylum seeker with his father, no money and no legal standing.

The one thing Fahim has is chess. Coach Xavier — Gérard Depardieu — takes him on and enters him in France's junior championship. Winning isn't just a trophy: there's an understanding that a French junior champion might earn the right to stay. Director Pierre-François Martin-Laval keeps the film moving without wringing every scene for emotion.

The real Fahim Mohammad became French junior champion in 2012 and got his residency papers. Depardieu plays the gruff, reluctant mentor without overdoing it, and Ahmed holds his own opposite him throughout. Watch Fahim online on iFILM.