The winner of the Best Director award at cannes for director Tony Gatlif (Gadjo Dilo) and starring Romain Duris (The Beat That My Heart Skipped), Exiles is a freewheeling drama about a young couple's nostalgic desire to retrace their parents' steps to Algeria.
Zano's (Duris) impulsive idea takes him and his lover Naima (Lubna Azabal) from France and across Spain to the country their parents were forced to fell many years earlier. With only music to accompany them, they launch themselves into inverted exile hitching rides, working as fruit pickers and meeting North Africans heading in the opposite direction.
Director Gatlif, previously known for his films on gypsy life, has produced a rewarding and bravura road trip adventure that's partly based on his own family history. An exhilarating and colourful journey, the film also makes a number of incisive cultural insights.