Loin des Barbares

An impressive thriller-style investigation into the realities of exile for Paris's Albanian community. Zana (Blanc), a painter, spirited out of Albania as a baby, receives a call from a compatriot refugee at the airport saying he has news of the father she assumed was dead. She helps the man escape and embarks on an eye-opening tour through a little-seen side of Paris - the refugee camps, hotels and places of political asylum. Shot in a dark, frenetic style, the movie doesn't pull its punches, and nor does it offer any simplistic insights. Fine performances.