Exile

by Visar Morina

Exile

Synopsis

Xhafer, a 45 year old, Kosovo-born pharmaceutical engineer living in Germany  suddenly feels discriminated against and bullied at work because of his ethnic background. When Xhafer finds a dead rat hanging from the gate in front of his home, it is immediately clear to him that his racist colleagues could be behind it. Every occurrence, every word, every gesture is taken as evidence. Xhafer’s uneasiness grows every day. His German wife Nora is tired of him playing the racism card all the time. Do his colleagues simply dislike him? Or is there more to their hostility? Is this all in his mind or is it the actual reality?

EXIL chronicles a steadily growing, though possibly imagined, threat. As Xhafer loses his job, wife, and his family, he walks a delicate tightrope between his life as an integrated, middle-class family man, and foreigner in his adopted country.

A thriller about paranoia and identity that’s simultaneously dark and surreal, with echoes of genre cinema and an unconventional sense of humor.

Director

Visar Morina was born in Kosovo and studied at the Cologne Academy of Media Arts. His much-acclaimed debut Babai received multiple awards such as Best Director and European Cinema Label in Karlovy Vary and Best Script at Filmfest München. Exil is his second feature. The script was honored with the German Federal Award Lola in Gold for an unfilmed screenplay.

DIRECTOR'S FILMOGRAPHY:

2020: Exile
2015: Babai
2013: Of Dogs And Wallpaper
2010: Death By Suffocation

Cast

Mišel Matičević: Xhafer
Sandra Hüller: Nora
Rainer Bock: Urs
Thomas Mraz: Manfred

Crew

Director & Scriptwriter: Visar Morina
Editing: Laura Lauzemis; Hansjörg Weißbrich, BFS; Visar Morina
Cinematography: Matteo Cocco
Costume Design: Gitti Fuchs
Production Design: Christian Goldbeck, VSK
Hair and Make-up: Diana Dreesen
Sound Design: Kai Tebbel
Music: Benedikt Schiefer
Original Sound: Dirk Bombey
Re-recording mix: Emmanuel de Boissieu
Casting: Susanne Ritter
Commissioning Editors: Andrea Hanke/WDR, Brigit Kämper/ARTE
Line Producer: Ben von Dobeneck
Production Manager: Peter Kreutz
Co-producers: Jean-Yves Roubin, Cassandre Warnauts, Yll Uka, Valon Bajgora
Producers: Janine Jackowski, Jonas Dornbach, Maren Ade

Technical Data

format: DCP / colour / 2.39:1 / 5.1
length: 121 min.
original languages: German, Albanian

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