Klandestin

Political yet deeply emotional: A political drama with Hollywood flair, featuring a star-studded cast including Barbara Sukowa and Lambert Wilson. Richard (Lambert Wilson), a moderately successful gay artist who can no longer afford to live in his native Britain, resides in Tangier and is preparing for his next art exhibition in Germany. Meanwhile, the young Moroccan Malik (Habib Adda) has long dreamed of a better life in Europe. When he enters Germany illegally with Richard’s help, he believes he has reached the destination of his dreams. In Frankfurt, Mathilda Marquardt (Barbara Sukowa)—of all people—is supposed to hide him; she is an old friend of Richard’s who, as a conservative politician, is known for her xenophobic views. Mathilda’s assistant, the lawyer Amina El Hazzaz (Banafshe Hourmazdi), who finally wants to leave her Moroccan roots behind, is brought in as a “cultural mediator” to resolve the issue. But while Mathilda struggles with her inner conflict and Richard desperately tries to win Malik over, the boy gets drawn deeper and deeper into a spiral of unpredictable events. Unwittingly, he sets off a chain of events whose consequences could be far-reaching for everyone involved… “A sophisticated thriller that uses the characters’ different perspectives to create a complex drama about migration, dependency, and a lack of equal opportunity.” (Lexikon des Internationalen Films)