When We Leave (Die Fremde)

The 83rd Academy Awards® 2011 Official German entry for the Best Foreign Language Film is a complex and gripping portrait of a family in crisis.

Hoping to start a new life, Umay (Sibel Kekilli) flees, along with her five years old son Cem (Nizam Schiller), from her oppressive marriage in Istanbul, Turkey, to her native Berlin, Germany. Instead, her path for self determination leads to intense conflicts with her family who love her but are bound by culture and traditions.

The superb cast includes Turkish stars Settar Tanriögen as Kader, Umay's father, and Derya Alabora as Halime, Umay’s mother. However, it is Sibel Kekilli's remarkable screen presence and expression of inner turmoil that steals the show.

The feature's most exceptional shots are also the most heartbreaking and violent. Included are many non-verbal, yet extremely powerful, expressive, and moving scenes.

The cast conveys a realistic empathetic portrayal of the transcultural and sociocultural conflicts impacting all of the family members. The skillful narrative by Feo Aladag, in her debut as writer, director and co-producer with Züli Aladag, portrays the dreadful predicaments of honor killing on all the characters, including the men, showing them not simply as culprits but also as victims of a structural, traditional dynamics.


Film opens in the United States, January 28, 2011. Find additional information at www.WhenWeLeave.com