Out of Norway/Imagining Emanuel

In Imagining Emanuel we are introduced to Emanuel. He is a paperless refugee who came to Norway in 1990 after fleeing the civil war in Liberia. But Norwegian authorities believe he is from Ghana, and have sent him there twice, only to have Emanuel rejected by the Ghanaian authorities and returned back to Norway. So Emanuel’s life is put on hold – in a limbo with no permission to stay, and no legal possibility to leave.

In Out of Norway – exclusively shot by Emanuel himself – we follow him as he documents his own escape, smuggling himself "the other way": out of Norway and home to Liberia. Ironically, to fund his escape back to Liberia in order to start a new life, Emanuel spends the price money he received from the Norwegian state after winning the Ministry of Culture’s Human rights-award for Imagining Emanuel.

In its raw, video diaristic style, Out of Norway is the anti-thesis to the beautifully composed and stylized Imagining Emanuel. The films raise important questions concerning identity. Together the films give a view on the troublesome and uncertain life as a paperless refugee, but Emanuel also turns the camera around and gives us his view on Norway and on us.

We will screen the films together. After the screening director Thomas Østbye will join us to discuss his films, the journey out of Europe and life as a paperless refugee in Norway. Also present in the panel debate are Jon Ole Martinsen from NOAS and the Kurdish artist Shwan Dler Qaradaki. The discussion is led by Kari Helene Partuopoli.

The screening is part of The Critical Room – Films from the South's forum for film and debate. Well over 100 discussions between invited guests and the audience has been held since the program was established in 2003. The goal is to dig deeper into current pressing issues related to Asia, Africa and Latin America.
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Thomas Østbye (b. 1979) is an artist and filmmaker. He runs the film company Plymserafin and is known for films such as Imagining Emanuel (2011), Human (2009), Take #2 (2012) and the interactive documentary 17,000 Islands. Østbye is a graduate of the Film School in Lillehammer. His films have won awards both in Norway and abroad.