“Performing Exiles” Begins With Productions by Mohammad Rasoulof and Mario Banushi

From 19 to 28 June 2025 the Berliner Festspiele present the second edition of the interdisciplinary festival “Performing Exiles” in co-operation with Ballhaus Ost, the Goethe Institut in Exile and HAU Hebbel am Ufer. Works can be seen by Mohammad Rasoulof, Mario Banushi, Tamara Trunova and the directing duo Rabih Mroué & Lina Majdalanie, among others. From 26 to 28 June, the stage marathon “100° Diaspora” presents artistic works from Berlin's diasporic scene over three days as a festival within the festival.

“Performing Exiles”, jointly curated by MatthiasLilienthal und SophieBlomen, offers a wide-ranging programme of theatre, performance, discursive events, workshops and a summer school that examines the question of what exile means today and creates space for the voices, stories and visions of diasporic artists living in Berlin.

Theatre Productions
The international festival will open this Thursday, 19 June, in the Haus der Berliner Festspiele with the world premiere “Destination: Origin” in a production by the film director Mohammad Rasoulof from Tehran. In his first theatrical work, the director weaves together the themes of exile, identity and artistic freedom in a performance that invites its audience to reflect on the meaning of home and the power of self-determination.
Also on the opening night, the director Mario Banushi, who was born in Tirana and grew up in Athens, portrays grief and coming to terms with loss in his non-verbal and visually arresting production “Goodbye, Lindita” (2023).
Another world premiere is being developed for the festival at the Left Bank Theatre in Kyiv: “Confronting the Shadow” by the Ukrainian director Tamara Trunonva. This production deals with the new reality that has arisen from the Russian war of aggression while simultaneously challenging the stereotype of Ukrainian resilience – it can be seen in the second week of the festival at Ballhaus Ost.
In their new performance “Four Walls and a Roof” (2024), the directing duo Lina Majdalanie and Rabih Mroué from Beirut/Berlin combine their own experiences of exile with those of Bertolt Brecht. “Performing Exiles” presents this work in co-operation with HAU Hebbel am Ufer.

“100° Diaspora”
The stage marathon “100° Diaspora” takes place from 26 to 28 June at the Haus der Berliner Festspiele as a festival within the festival run by Sophie Blomen. A space will be created for the vast range of Berlin’s diasporic arts scene for three days on five stages. With more than 150 artists, the 45 performances combine theatre, dance, performance, circus and scenic readings. The programme is not curated by theme: instead, artists were able to apply to take part and then invited on a first come, first served principle, provided their proposals could be realised.
The format is an attempt to enable the boundaries and possibilities of our lived political and social reality to be experienced through art. Issues are discussed that range from war and reconciliation, through climate activism, death and legacy to the deconstruction of masculinity and reading coffee grounds as a social technology.
“100° Diaspora” is supported by a framing programme that reflects on the works being presented and was devised together with the Goethe Institut in Exile.
View “100° Diaspora” schedule

Club de Baile
On both weekends of the festival “Club de Baile”, a temporary festival centre in the Berliner Festspiele’s Kassenhalle run by the Argentinian-born artist Camila Malenchini, offers performances, live music, DJ sets, lectures food workshops and a lot of queer Latinx couples dancing.

Please direct requests for accreditation and/or interviews to Leonard Pelz at leonard.pelz@berlinerfestspiele.de. You can find press photos​​​​​​​ on the Berliner Festspiele website.