Short summary:

Born To Be Here is the story of Sabrine, Darlyne and Chison, three first-generation Quebecers struggling to affirm their identity. Caught between their immigrant parents and Québec society, both of which fear assimilation, these teenagers face special obstacles in defining who they are. What is their identity? How do they see themselves - in their own eyes, and in the eyes of those around them?

Their honest, forthright and affecting stories offer a whole new vision of what it means to be a Quebecer.

Long summary:

Born To Be Here looks at the daily lives of three teenagers in the Saint-Michel district of north-end Montreal. All are first-generation Quebecers, of Arab, Asian or Haitian descent. We accompany them on their quest for identity, a quest in which they face obstacles their classmates don't have to contend with. Caught in the middle between their immigrant parents and Québec society, both of which fear assimilation, the Quebec-born children of immigrants struggle to establish their place and identity. But what is their identity? How do they see themselves - in their own eyes, and in the eyes of those around them?

This is the story of Sabrine, Darlyne and Chison, three high school students who are at the crucial age of trying to forge a sense of their own identity. We watch as they live, grow and ponder these issues over the course of a year, at home in their families and at École Joseph-François-Perrault. They speak openly of their fears and dreams, their frustrations and their love of Québec. Born here and educated in the French public school system, they have grown up with Quebec cultural values and demand to be recognized as an integral part of Québec society, which nevertheless persists in viewing them as outsiders.

Born To Be Here is a film about cultural clashes and integration, about being torn between two worlds, about obstacles met and overcome, about questions and possible answers. It's a film about the new face of Québec as seen through three insightful adolescents, and it shows that, more than ever, cultural pluralism is something all Quebecers will have to come to terms with in affirming their identity.