Mehdi Hmili’s “EXIL” makes its world premiere at the 78th Locarno Film Festival !
-Following the success of Mehdi Hmili’s “Streams” in 2021, which premiered at the Locarno Film Festival, Tarantula is delighted to announce that the director’s latest film, “Exil”, has been officially selected for the 78th Locarno Film Festival.
“EXIL” is a film that Tarantula produced with Yol Film House (Tunisia) and Volte Film (France). The film is the result of real artistic, human and logistical struggles. Initially conceived as a documentary, the project shifted towards fiction due to the tense political climate and resurgence of censorship in Tunisia. This shift was not a way out, but an act of resistance; a way to preserve creative freedom at all costs and bring an urgent story to the screen that cannot be silenced. Using the existing documentary footage, transforming the genre proved to be an equally powerful way of telling this story, amplifying its universal scope.
Inspired by real events, EXIL combines social realism and genre cinema, flirting with the fantastic. The film follows a steelworker’s quest for justice after his friend’s suspicious death. Rust-ridden bodies, hallucinations, and institutional violence form a dark portrait of oppression, where corruption becomes a physical and moral infection. Mehdi Hmili tells this story powerfully, amplifying its universal appeal. Through visceral direction and constant poetic tension, he transforms an individual tragedy into a universal tale of resistance, love and sacrifice.
Mehdi Hmili’s film “EXIL” will have its world premiere at the prestigious Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland from 6 to 16 August, where it will compete for the Pardo Verde award. Founded in 1946, the Locarno Film Festival occupies a unique place among the world’s major film festivals. For eleven days every August, Locarno, in the heart of Europe, becomes the world capital of auteur cinema. The official screening of the film will take place on 11 August in the presence of the film crew.
The Pardo Verde is a prize conceived in 2022 to celebrate films highlighting values related to sustainability, ecology and interspecies relationships. The artistic direction of the Locarno Film Festival identified a number of feature films and a program of short films – presented in the Festival’s official sections – that pay particular attention to the relationship between humans and the ecosystem they are a part of. A jury, composed of three personalities from the world of cinema and culture, will designate the winning film, to which it will award the Pardo Verde of CHF 20,000 to the director(s). Moreover, the jury may also award a special mention to a short film and to a feature film.
