11/06/2024 - The new film by Noaz Deshe, Venice Lion of the Future winner for White Shadow, centres on asylum seekers filming satirical sketches while they await news on their status in a Greek refugee camp

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.

This is the synopsis of Xoftex [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Noaz Deshe
film profile], the new film by Berlin- and Los Angeles-based artist-filmmaker Noaz Deshe, which is having its world premiere in the Crystal Globe Competition at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, taking place from 28 June-6 July.

According to KVIFF selection committee member Anna Kořínek, "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."

Deshe won the Lion of the Future - "Luigi de Laurentiis" Award for a Debut Film in Venice for his first feature White Shadow [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Noaz Deshe
film profile], a harrowing story about being an albino in Tanzania boasting Ryan Gosling as an executive producer, which was selected for the International Film Critics' Week and later went on to participate in the World Dramatic Competition at the Sundance Film Festival. Deshe has also collaborated with Babak Jalali as a cinematographer in his IFFR Tiger Award winner Radio Dreams and as a musician in his Locarno competitor Frontier Blues [+see also:
trailer
film profile].

Written by both Deshe and Jalali, Xoftex was produced by Andro Steinborn for Germany's Arden Film, as well as Deshe himself, and co-produced by Christophe Audeguis for France's The Cup of Tea.

Check out our exclusive poster and clips below: