Exil en héritage

Having crossed the European borders by foot at 18 in search of refuge, Timour understands that his story is atypical compared to his classmates at the University of Montpelier, France. He keeps his story close to him for fear of being judged or misunderstood. EXILE IN HERITAGE retraces the steps of his journey across Europe, while simultaneously penetrating an interior landscape through video correspondences between him and his family back in Chechnya. The videos were originally made so that he did not forget where he came from, but as family and friends send their blessings, the reality of their suppressed situation finds a new outlet that was not premeditated. For Timour to better understand his journey and his heritage, his family reveal what they had never before spoken about - their own experiences as refugees in Siberia. Though the experience of exile or living abroad is an underlying theme, the subject begs the question of identity, through exile - the need of definition through that which we have no longer. Exile is a human condition that is an extreme of a question we can all ask ourselves, whether far from home or not - how does where we come from and what is left behind, define us?