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Run Out

Run Out

(Draussen bleiben), Alexander Riedel / D, 2007
German / Czech subtitles, 84 min

Valentina is sixteen years old and comes from Kosovo. Together with her mother she lives in a refugee camp on the outskirts of Munich. For eleven years they have been hoping to get residence permit, but as of yet their presence in the country is merely tolerated by the authorities, always just for a few months in a row. Valenta is a young, strong leader of a group of young women migrants, who hide their vulnerability behind a veil of aggression and defiance. They feel strong and independent, they are not afraid of conflicts, not even with the police. The documentary filmmaker Andreas Riedel follows Valenta for a whole year, even during her four-week-stay in the penitentiary to which she was sentenced. In Run Out Andreas Riedel avoids the trend of a dynamic portable camera. Long and static shots without a voiceover allow the protagonists enough space to present themselves and their view of the world. The director allows them to lead him, he never diverts from their perspective. The political meaning of the everyday life of a refugee is left entirely up to the viewers themselves and their own perception.