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ALLIES IN EXILE

( 2026 )
Special Presentations, Displacement Film Fund |
 
United Kingdom
,
Syria
 |
 English, Arabic |
 40 min

About the film

Premiering at IFF Rotterdam as part of a powerful displacement package, Allies in Exile is an intimate, moving short documentary. Drawing on remarkable archival footage from their years together, two Syrian filmmakers shaped by war document the trauma of waiting for asylum. It is a tender, powerful story of friendship and displacement, highlighting what it truly means to keep telling stories against the odds.

Director

Hasan Kattan, Fadi Al Halabi

Producer

Orlando von Einsiedel

Production Company

Screenplay

Hasan Kattan

Cinematography

Fadi Al Halabi

Editing

Matthew Scholes

Sound

Hasan Kattan, Fadi Al Halabi

Cast

Contacts

International Sales: Grain Media, United Kingdom, info@grainmedia.co.uk

Producer

Orlando von Einsiedel

Production Company

Screenplay

Hasan Kattan

Cinematography

Fadi Al Halabi

Editing

Matthew Scholes

Sound

Hasan Kattan, Fadi Al Halabi

Cast

Contacts

International Sales: Grain Media, United Kingdom, info@grainmedia.co.uk

More About Film

For 14 years, Syrian filmmakers Hasan Kattan and Fadi Al-Halabi have journeyed together through war and storytelling. Their bond was forged on the frontlines of revolution where their cameras recorded terror and hope, laughter and heartbreak – moments that defined a generation.Years later, their story takes an unexpected turn. Confined inside a UK asylum hotel, Hasan and Fadi document a new chapter shaped not by bombs, but by waiting, bureaucracy, and exile. Amid rising anti-refugee hostility, they turn the camera inward, exploring friendship and displacement and how filming itself becomes an act of survival when the future is so uncertain.

Producer

Orlando von Einsiedel

Screenplay

Hasan Kattan

Cinematography

Fadi Al Halabi

Editing

Matthew Scholes

Sound

Hasan Kattan, Fadi Al Halabi

Contact

International Sales: Grain Media, United Kingdom, info@grainmedia.co.uk

More About Film

For 14 years, Syrian filmmakers Hasan Kattan and Fadi Al-Halabi have journeyed together through war and storytelling. Their bond was forged on the frontlines of revolution where their cameras recorded terror and hope, laughter and heartbreak – moments that defined a generation.Years later, their story takes an unexpected turn. Confined inside a UK asylum hotel, Hasan and Fadi document a new chapter shaped not by bombs, but by waiting, bureaucracy, and exile. Amid rising anti-refugee hostility, they turn the camera inward, exploring friendship and displacement and how filming itself becomes an act of survival when the future is so uncertain.