Allies in Exile, the new short documentary directed by Hasan Kattan and Fadi Al-Halabi and co-produced by Counterpoints Productions, has been announced as the opening film of BBC’s new Storyville Shorts strand this autumn (date to be confirmed).
Read the full BBC press release below:
Building on its reputation for the world’s best international documentaries, Storyville is showcasing bold, innovative filmmakers in its new Storyville Shorts strand, featuring 10–40-minute films that explore the issues shaping our world.
The first of these new films: Allies in Exile, follows Syrian filmmakers Hasan Kattan and Fadi Al-Halabi. Having forged a friendship while filming the conflict in Syria, they now face a very different reality as they navigate the UK asylum system.
Turning the camera on themselves, they document a new chapter in their own lives shaped by uncertainty, bureaucracy and displacement, offering a deeply personal and very raw exploration of friendship and belonging. This heart-wrenching film offers an intimate perspective on life in exile and the enduring power of storytelling in the face of adversity.
Allies in Exile – Storyville Short (1×40′) is a Grain Media production, co-produced by AMC Production and Counterpoints Productions for BBC Four and BBC iPlayer. It was filmed with support from the Displacement Film Fund led by Cate Blanchett. The producer is Orlando von Einsiedel. The directors are Hasan Kattan and Fadi Al-Halabi. The cinematographer is Fadi Al-Halabi. The executive producers are Caroline Willis and Chloe Leland. The editor is Matthew Scholes, and the post supervisor is Alex Spence.
Allies in Exile – Storyville Short is presented by The New Yorker Documentary. The commissioning editor for the BBC is Nevine Mabro.