Exil

Exile

First, there’s a dead rat hanging on the door of the house where Xhafer lives with his family. Then the emails he sends are ‘accidentally’ no longer being received. The signs are increasing that this engineer, originally from Kosovo but well integrated in Germany, is being bullied in his workplace. Or is he losing touch with reality? Visar Morina dissects the psychological effects of social exclusion and combines subtle images that shift according to his protagonist’s state with meticulous performances from his ensemble, to describe how quickly cracks can develop in the construct that is identity. (Berlinale)

Director's Biography
Born in Pristina, Kosovo, in 1979, Visar Morina studied directing and screenwriting at the Academy of Media Arts Cologne. After a number of short films he made his feature film debut with BABAI, which won the Crossing Europe Award for Best Fiction Film in 2016. In 2018, his script for EXILE won the German Screenplay Award. The resulting film premiered at Berlinale 2020.
Director's Filmography (Selection)
Exil (Exile, 2020) – Babai (2015, CE'16) - Von Hunden und Tapeten (Of Dogs and Wallpaper, 2013, short) - Der Schübling (Death by Suffocation, 2010, short) - Sirenen (Sirens, 2008, short) - Sicherheit für Alle (A Safe Place for Everyone, 2007, short)
European Panorama Fiction 2021
Visar Morina
Germany / Belgium / Kosovo 2020
color
121 minutes
German / Albanian
OV with English subtitles
Screenplay Visar Morina
Cinematography Matteo Cocco
Editing Laura Lauzemis, Hansjörg Weißbrich, Visar Morina
Sound/Sounddesign Dirk Bombey
Music Benedikt Schiefer
With Mišel Matičević, Sandra Hüller, Rainer Bock, Thomas Mraz
Producer(s) Janine Jackowski, Jonas Dornbach, Maren Ade, Jean-Yves Roubin, Cassandre Warnauts, Yll Uka, Valon Bajgora
Production
Komplizen Film, Frakas Productions, Ikonë Studio, WDR, Arte, VOO, BeTV
World Sales
The Match Factory
Austrian Rights
Alamode (Vertrieb: Panda Lichtspiele Filmverleih)
World Premiere
Berlinale 2020