“Xoftex”, an interview with director Noaz Deshe

July 5, 2024

Noaz Deshe, director of "Xoftex", shows what spending time in a refugee camp does to the mind

"Xoftex", an interview with director Noaz Deshe Bénédicte Prot

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A decade after his debut, “White Shadow” (Lion of the Future in Venice in 2013), on the plight of albinos in Tanzania, Bucharest-born director Noaz Deshe presents a fascinating feature shot in a refugee camp in Greece, where it is the minds of the human beings waiting for 12 to 18 months for an answer on their asylum status which is at the centre.

This visually stunning piece, deeply rooted in reality whilst exploring the invisible (and cruelly unseen), is amongst the contenders for the Crystal Globe of the 58th Karlovy Vary Film Festival.

On the reality the film is based on

“Almost everything you see in the movie is taken from documentary research that we’ve done in the camp, and on volunteer work, for many months, in a camp.”

On the toll waiting in a refugee camp takes on the mind

“This is all born from the state people are in, in the camp, which is very specific, which is hard to explain unless you are there. Because it’s a place that is nor here, nor there, which means your state of mind is stateless, and that creates a shift, constantly, based on moods, on what happens in the moment, and everything is amplified. Any rumours of conspiracy is amplified, anything that might go wrong or might go right, and the highs are high, and the lows are low. And the danger is extreme, because it is such an intense pressure cooker, being inside this situation.”

On borders

“A friend of mine said it was a movie about borders: the ones we create in our minds, and the ones that are imposed on us.”

On the human beings fleeing war and persecution who hope to get to Europe

“They carry a very intense trauma, just from the road to Greece, and often, they have lost somebody or left somebody behind. They don’t necessarily talk about this when they arrive, because they’re trying to prepare their minds for a new place, a new world, but I think that a lot of trauma is suppressed, and it starts to come out in different ways. And it’s something people don’t realise… You meet people later, in Europe, and you don’t realise, you don’t know what they’ve had to do to get to this place, if that place offers them any love back. What they’ve had to go through… It’s heartbreaking to see what’s happening in Europe right now.”

Plot

"Xoftex is a Greek refugee camp, where Syrian and Palestinian asylum seekers anxiously wait for news of their refugee status. To pass the time between interviews with the immigration office, Nasser and his friends film satirical sketches and make preparations for a zombie horror flick. Except that the reality of the camp could be taken for a horror scenario itself. The tension between its inhabitants gains momentum and every conflict removes one more brick from the wall which divides reality from dream – or, indeed, nightmare. Fragments of real life, humour, and the unimaginable suffering of people risking their lives to escape their own country, merge into an explosive, at times, surreal spectacle which invites the viewers to immerse themselves in the story and the lives of immigrants in a way they will never have experienced before." Anna Kořínek for KVIFF

Written by: Bénédicte Prot

Guest

Noaz Deshe

Film

Xoftex

Festival

Karlovy Vary Film Festival

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“Xoftex”, an interview with director Noaz Deshe