Visar Morina’s ¨Exile¨ in the International Competition of the 35th Sundance Film Festival
- Filmstiftung NRW supported project with development and production funding
- Komplizen Film produced completely in NRW
- Already fourth project made by KHM graduate Morina with Filmstiftung NRW
The 35th Sundance Film Festival, which was initiated by Robert Redford, will open on Wednesday, 23 January. Visar Morina’s Filmstiftung-backed drama ¨Exile¨ has been invited to screen in the World Dramatic Competition. Morina, who is a graduate of Cologne’s Academy of Media Arts (KHM), received the German Screenplay Prize 2018 for his script of ¨Exile¨. The Film- und Medienstiftung NRW had already awarded development funding of 20,000 Euros to the production company Komplizen Film for the project at the end of 2017. At the beginning of 2018, it supported principal photography of the international co-production with production funding of 600,000 Euros.
¨Exile¨ is the fourth collaboration between the director and the Filmstiftung who has supported all of Morina’s films to date. ¨Babai¨, produced in 2015, received many awards and was Kosovo’s official Oscar candidate, among other things. This is also the fourth collaboration between the production company Komplizen Film and the Filmstiftung, including such films as the exceptional tragicomedy by Maren Ade, ¨Toni Erdmann¨, which was nominated for an Oscar in 2017. The production company was presented with the prestigious Premio Raimondo Rezzonico award for producers in Locarno in August 2019.
About the film
Xhafer, a chemical engineer, feels discriminated and bullied at work, plunging him into an identity crisis.
Director Visar Morina also wrote the screenplay. Komplizen Film produced the film as a co-production with Frakas Productions (BEL), Ikone Studio (RKS), WDR, Arte, VOO and BeTV. Misel Maticevic, Sandra Hüller, Rainer Bock and Thomas Mraz are in the starring roles. Susanne Ritter was responsible for the casting, Matteo Cocco for the cinematography, with Peter Kreutz serving as production manager. The film was shot over a total of 41 days in Cologne and surroundings. In addition to funding from the Filmstiftung, there was backing from Medienboard Berlin Brandenburg, BKM, the German Federal Film Fund (DFFF), Eurimages, and the German Federal Film Board (FFA).
The 35th Sundance Film Festival is held from 23 January to 2 February. All information can be found at www.sundance.org