"Where are you from again?" The Match Factory has debuted the first official promo trailer for the indie drama Exile, also titled just Exil. This is a German film produced and made in Germany, but it's directed by a Kosovan filmmaker named Visar Morina. The film just premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, and is playing at the Berlin Film Festival now, seeking international distribution at the market. The sweltering (literally) drama is about a Kosovan man who now works as a chemical engineer in Germany. He starts to feel discriminated and bullied at work, plunging him into an identity crisis. Starring Misel Maticevic and Sandra Hüller, along with Rainer Bock, Thomas Mraz, Flonja Kodheli, Stephan Grossmann, and Nicole Marischka. It's a complex, fascinating examination of how biased perspectives can warp the truth. Here's the first promo trailer (+ promo poster) for Visar Morina's Exile, direct from Tmf's YouTube:...
- 2/24/2020
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
There’s much talk these days of microaggressions: words and gestures of disrespect toward others, particularly those of other social groups, that betray prejudice even when everyday or unintentional. It’s a term that sounds almost scientific, though as a unit of measurement, it’s frustratingly inexact: how many microaggressions add up to plain, violent, not-so-small oppression? How many seemingly accidental slights must one endure before crying malice? And if it makes you feel unsafe, can any aggression be called micro? In Kosovan-born director Visar Morina’s fine-cut sophomore feature “Exile,” these are the considerations that drive a mild-mannered Kosovan expat to the brink of madness in staid German suburbia.
Slicing into its protagonist’s psyche with surgical finesse and discomfort, this queasy-comic character study pulls off a subtly perilous balancing act: It’s painfully exact in dramatizing the quiet xenophobia he experiences on a daily basis, even as the...
Slicing into its protagonist’s psyche with surgical finesse and discomfort, this queasy-comic character study pulls off a subtly perilous balancing act: It’s painfully exact in dramatizing the quiet xenophobia he experiences on a daily basis, even as the...
- 2/15/2020
- by Guy Lodge
- Variety Film + TV
Laura Bispuri’s moving, fiery Sworn Virgin comes in a recent tradition of cinematic meditations on gender as a form of identity like Tomboy and All About My Mother, but her film is, above all, about the privilege of access. For Mark (a revelatory Alba Rohrwacher), changing his gender identity was about personal freedom, but it’s not about self-expression or empowerment as much as a reflection of Mark’s need to conform to societal expectations in order to be recognized as a human being with agency.
As Sworn Virgin begins, Mark leaves his life-long Albanian village of Ragam for Rome, Italy, to find Lila (Flonja Kodheli), his long-estranged sister. More than a decade since their last meeting, Mark and Lila’s friendship is speckled with lingering bitterness and a mutual disappointment. Each of these characters had the same goal of escaping their fate, but their paths diverged long ago.
As Sworn Virgin begins, Mark leaves his life-long Albanian village of Ragam for Rome, Italy, to find Lila (Flonja Kodheli), his long-estranged sister. More than a decade since their last meeting, Mark and Lila’s friendship is speckled with lingering bitterness and a mutual disappointment. Each of these characters had the same goal of escaping their fate, but their paths diverged long ago.
- 4/25/2016
- by Michael Snydel
- The Film Stage
The world would be a much better place if there were more motion pictures as human, humane and nuanced as the debut feature from filmmaker Laura Bispuri.
Entitled Sworn Virgin, Bispuri’s film (based on a novel from Elvira Dones and from a script penned by Bispuri and Francesca Manieri) takes a look at a long standing Albanian tradition that is grotesque and sexist, yet never truly judges it as such. To much of the modern world, where transgender issues are admittedly being handled in a different yet just as disgusting and grotesque manner, the “sworn virgin” concept is absolutely foreign. A woman may proclaim herself as a man without issue if she in turn takes a chastity vow, ostensibly taking sexual chastity over any form of punishment faced as per the Kanun, an Albanian code of social norms.
Not a documentary, Bispuri’s picture does a superb job in...
Entitled Sworn Virgin, Bispuri’s film (based on a novel from Elvira Dones and from a script penned by Bispuri and Francesca Manieri) takes a look at a long standing Albanian tradition that is grotesque and sexist, yet never truly judges it as such. To much of the modern world, where transgender issues are admittedly being handled in a different yet just as disgusting and grotesque manner, the “sworn virgin” concept is absolutely foreign. A woman may proclaim herself as a man without issue if she in turn takes a chastity vow, ostensibly taking sexual chastity over any form of punishment faced as per the Kanun, an Albanian code of social norms.
Not a documentary, Bispuri’s picture does a superb job in...
- 4/22/2016
- by Joshua Brunsting
- CriterionCast
Jose here. In the ancient Albanian tradition of “burrnesha”, a woman takes a vow of chastity in exchange for having all the freedom of a man. Once she swears eternal virginity in front of a group of elders - all men of course - she is allowed to live in the community under a new male name that also brings benefits that will allow her to carry guns, drink alcohol, smoke cigarettes, work, play music and be in the company of other men. By the time we meet Mark (Alba Rohrwacher) in Sworn Virgin, he has pretty much forgotten who Hana, her former identity, was. Feeling incomplete, he decides to leave his isolated village to visit his sister (Flonja Kodheli) in Italy, where he discovers he is living within a prison of his own making.
Sworn Virgin is director Laura Bispuri’s debut film, but one wouldn’t guess that...
Sworn Virgin is director Laura Bispuri’s debut film, but one wouldn’t guess that...
- 4/20/2016
- by Jose
- FilmExperience
A pair of sections that we’ve been covering almost since its inception, the American Film Institute (AFI) announced their selections for the New Auteurs and American Independents line-ups and we’ve got a noteworthy, eyebrow-raising sampling of award-winning items from the Cannes played hellish immigration drama Mediterranea from Jonas Carpignano to Sundance (Josh Mond’s James White) to SXSW (Trey Edward Shults’ Krisha) winners. Since Park City days, our Nicholas Bell has reviewed a good chunk of these titles, but we’ll still likely have a couple of more reviews once the festival begins. Here are the selections and jury members.
New Auteurs Selections (11 Titles)
From Afar – When a middle-aged man is assaulted and robbed by a young criminal, an unlikely relationship develops. Dir Lorenzo Vigas. Scr Lorenzo Vigas. Cast Alfredo Castro and Luis Silva. Venezuela/Mexico. U.S. Premiere
Disorder – Matthias Schoenaerts plays an ex-soldier who becomes locked...
New Auteurs Selections (11 Titles)
From Afar – When a middle-aged man is assaulted and robbed by a young criminal, an unlikely relationship develops. Dir Lorenzo Vigas. Scr Lorenzo Vigas. Cast Alfredo Castro and Luis Silva. Venezuela/Mexico. U.S. Premiere
Disorder – Matthias Schoenaerts plays an ex-soldier who becomes locked...
- 10/15/2015
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
Sworn Virgin (Vergine giurata) director Laura Bispuri with star Alba Rohrwacher Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Laura Bispuri's Sworn Virgin (Vergine Giurata) won this year's Tribeca Film Festival Nora Ephron Prize. Her debut feature stars Alba Rohrwacher in a complex portrayal of life as Hana and Mark with Flonja Kodheli as her sister Lila. On a brisk spring morning in New York, the director and Alba spoke with me about looking for the character, a goat as metaphor, the impact of Lars Eidinger on an Esther Williams inspired synchronised swimming scene, Elvira Dones' novel on which the film is based, traditions and the questioning of gender roles. In the isolated mountains of Northern Albania, the codes ruling the interactions between men and women are strict.
Alba Rohrwacher (Hana): "I didn’t know about these women who became men to be free."
Anne-Katrin Titze: You found a beautiful way for us to enter your film.
Laura Bispuri's Sworn Virgin (Vergine Giurata) won this year's Tribeca Film Festival Nora Ephron Prize. Her debut feature stars Alba Rohrwacher in a complex portrayal of life as Hana and Mark with Flonja Kodheli as her sister Lila. On a brisk spring morning in New York, the director and Alba spoke with me about looking for the character, a goat as metaphor, the impact of Lars Eidinger on an Esther Williams inspired synchronised swimming scene, Elvira Dones' novel on which the film is based, traditions and the questioning of gender roles. In the isolated mountains of Northern Albania, the codes ruling the interactions between men and women are strict.
Alba Rohrwacher (Hana): "I didn’t know about these women who became men to be free."
Anne-Katrin Titze: You found a beautiful way for us to enter your film.
- 4/26/2015
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Alba Rohrwacher (Hana) Flonja Kodheli (Lila) in Laura Bispuri's Sworn Virgin
The Tribeca Film Festival Nora Ephron Prize winner, Sworn Virgin (Vergine Giurata), directed by Laura Bispuri, co-written with Francesca Manieri, from the novel by Elvira Dones, stars Alba Rohrwacher with Flonja Kodheli as her sister Lila, Ilire Vinca Cela as their mother, and Lars Eidinger as pool guardian.
In the isolated mountains of Northern Albania, the codes are strict ruling the interactions between men and women. Bispuri's sharply crafted first feature lays out the dictates in images that share and combine the rough beauty of the land with the oppression lying beneath. Women and donkeys carrying sacks of rubble up the flinty mountains. Men go hunting in the woods, drink a fiery alcohol called Raki, and howl collective chants when one of them dies.
Flonja Kodheli: "Lila doesn't seem so happy. At least she isn't married to someone she doesn't love.
The Tribeca Film Festival Nora Ephron Prize winner, Sworn Virgin (Vergine Giurata), directed by Laura Bispuri, co-written with Francesca Manieri, from the novel by Elvira Dones, stars Alba Rohrwacher with Flonja Kodheli as her sister Lila, Ilire Vinca Cela as their mother, and Lars Eidinger as pool guardian.
In the isolated mountains of Northern Albania, the codes are strict ruling the interactions between men and women. Bispuri's sharply crafted first feature lays out the dictates in images that share and combine the rough beauty of the land with the oppression lying beneath. Women and donkeys carrying sacks of rubble up the flinty mountains. Men go hunting in the woods, drink a fiery alcohol called Raki, and howl collective chants when one of them dies.
Flonja Kodheli: "Lila doesn't seem so happy. At least she isn't married to someone she doesn't love.
- 4/25/2015
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Cannes Un Certain Regard jury president Isabella Rossellini with Hungry Hearts director Saverio Costanzo and Alba Rohrwacher Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
At the Italian Sunday Brunch organised elegantly by Sally Fischer for Istituto Luce Cinecittà to honor Paolo Taviani (Wondrous Boccaccio), Cosima Spender (Palio), Laura Bispuri (Sworn Virgin), Saverio Costanzo (Hungry Hearts), Alba Rohrwacher, Flonja Kodheli and producer Marta Donzelli at Soho House during the Tribeca Film Festival, Alba and I spoke about working with Adam Driver and getting to know New York.
Alba Rohrwacher as Mina in Hungry Hearts: "Saverio is a very strong director, so we can trust him."
Saverio Costanzo's Hungry Hearts stars Rohrwacher as Mina and Driver as Jude, with Roberta Maxwell as Jude's mother. Adapted from Marco Franzoso's novel, The Indigo Child, by Costanzo, is many things - a thriller, a deep hard stare into the nature of escape, a comedy of metaphors...
At the Italian Sunday Brunch organised elegantly by Sally Fischer for Istituto Luce Cinecittà to honor Paolo Taviani (Wondrous Boccaccio), Cosima Spender (Palio), Laura Bispuri (Sworn Virgin), Saverio Costanzo (Hungry Hearts), Alba Rohrwacher, Flonja Kodheli and producer Marta Donzelli at Soho House during the Tribeca Film Festival, Alba and I spoke about working with Adam Driver and getting to know New York.
Alba Rohrwacher as Mina in Hungry Hearts: "Saverio is a very strong director, so we can trust him."
Saverio Costanzo's Hungry Hearts stars Rohrwacher as Mina and Driver as Jude, with Roberta Maxwell as Jude's mother. Adapted from Marco Franzoso's novel, The Indigo Child, by Costanzo, is many things - a thriller, a deep hard stare into the nature of escape, a comedy of metaphors...
- 4/22/2015
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Wondrous Boccaccio co-director Paolo Taviani with Hungry Hearts director Saverio Costanzo at Soho House Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
At the Instituto Luce Cinecittà Italian Cinema Sunday Brunch celebrating directors Laura Bispuri, Saverio Costanzo, Cosima Spender and Paolo Taviani, I spoke with producer Marta Donzelli on her work with Michelangelo Frammartino.
Alba Rohrwacher, Flonja Kodheli, Bispuri, Costanzo, Spender and Taviani were joined by Isabella Rossellini and other illustrious guests at New York's Soho House as their films were being screened at the Tribeca Film Festival.
In 2013, the World Premiere of Michelangelo Frammartino's breathtaking 28 minute continuous cinematic installation Alberi in the Vw Dome at MoMA PS1 was an official selection of the Tribeca Film Festival.
Tribeca Film Festival's Artistic Director Frédéric Boyer on Michelangelo Frammartino's Alberi: "The most important thing is to create something distinctive/instinctive."
Anne-Katrin Titze: Tell me about your upcoming project with Michelangelo Frammartino. Is it a version of Pinocchio?...
At the Instituto Luce Cinecittà Italian Cinema Sunday Brunch celebrating directors Laura Bispuri, Saverio Costanzo, Cosima Spender and Paolo Taviani, I spoke with producer Marta Donzelli on her work with Michelangelo Frammartino.
Alba Rohrwacher, Flonja Kodheli, Bispuri, Costanzo, Spender and Taviani were joined by Isabella Rossellini and other illustrious guests at New York's Soho House as their films were being screened at the Tribeca Film Festival.
In 2013, the World Premiere of Michelangelo Frammartino's breathtaking 28 minute continuous cinematic installation Alberi in the Vw Dome at MoMA PS1 was an official selection of the Tribeca Film Festival.
Tribeca Film Festival's Artistic Director Frédéric Boyer on Michelangelo Frammartino's Alberi: "The most important thing is to create something distinctive/instinctive."
Anne-Katrin Titze: Tell me about your upcoming project with Michelangelo Frammartino. Is it a version of Pinocchio?...
- 4/21/2015
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
In an overdue final Berlinale diary entry, I lay out my rankings overall and present brief reviews of Ali Ahmadzadeh's Atom Heart Mother with Taraneh Alidoosti and Pegah Ahangarani, Alex Ross Perry's Queen of Earth with Elizabeth Moss and Katherine Waterston, Vladimir Tomic's Flotel Europa, Christoph Hochhäusler's The Lies of the Victors with Florian David Fitz and Lilith Stangenberg, Laura Bispuri's Sworn Virgin with Alba Rohrwacher, Flonja Kodheli and Lars Eidinger, and Sabu's Chasuke's Journey with Kenichi Matsuyama and Ito Ono. » - David Hudson...
- 2/26/2015
- Fandor: Keyframe
In an overdue final Berlinale diary entry, I lay out my rankings overall and present brief reviews of Ali Ahmadzadeh's Atom Heart Mother with Taraneh Alidoosti and Pegah Ahangarani, Alex Ross Perry's Queen of Earth with Elizabeth Moss and Katherine Waterston, Vladimir Tomic's Flotel Europa, Christoph Hochhäusler's The Lies of the Victors with Florian David Fitz and Lilith Stangenberg, Laura Bispuri's Sworn Virgin with Alba Rohrwacher, Flonja Kodheli and Lars Eidinger, and Sabu's Chasuke's Journey with Kenichi Matsuyama and Ito Ono. » - David Hudson...
- 2/26/2015
- Keyframe
World premieres of Wim Wenders’ Every Thing Will Be Fine, Oliver Hirschbiegel’s Elser (13 Minutes) and Pablo Larraín’s The Club added to programme.
The 65th Berlin International Film Festival (Feb 5-15) has unveiled its full Competition line-up.
Some 21 of the 23 titles will be world premieres, and 19 features from across Europe, North America, the Middle East and Asia will compete for Golden and Silver Bears.
New additions include Wim Wenders’ Every Thing Will Be Fine, which will play out of competition. The film, shot in 3D, stars James Franco as a writer who accidentally hits and kills a child while out driving. Co-stars include Charlotte Gainsbourg and Rachel McAdams.
As previously announced, Wenders will be awarded an Honorary Golden Bear for lifetime achievement and will have ten of his films screened as part of the Homage strand.
Also playing out of competition will be the world premiere of Elser (13 Minutes) from Oliver Hirschbiegel, the German...
The 65th Berlin International Film Festival (Feb 5-15) has unveiled its full Competition line-up.
Some 21 of the 23 titles will be world premieres, and 19 features from across Europe, North America, the Middle East and Asia will compete for Golden and Silver Bears.
New additions include Wim Wenders’ Every Thing Will Be Fine, which will play out of competition. The film, shot in 3D, stars James Franco as a writer who accidentally hits and kills a child while out driving. Co-stars include Charlotte Gainsbourg and Rachel McAdams.
As previously announced, Wenders will be awarded an Honorary Golden Bear for lifetime achievement and will have ten of his films screened as part of the Homage strand.
Also playing out of competition will be the world premiere of Elser (13 Minutes) from Oliver Hirschbiegel, the German...
- 1/19/2015
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
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