British Turkish Cypriot filmmaker Serkan Nihat’s award-winning debut feature Exodus is returning to the big screen in North London next month, with a special screening at the Dugdale Arts Centre in Enfield on Thursday, 1 October.
Presented by Talkies Community Cinema, the screening will also give audiences the opportunity to hear directly from the North London-based director, who will introduce the film and take part in a Q&A after the screening.
T-VINE first covered Exodus when it opened the London Independent Film Festival (LIFF) in April 2024, where the hard-hitting migration drama received a standing ovation before going on to win Best Drama Feature.
The film subsequently picked up another Best Drama Feature prize at the Touchstone Independent Film Festival and the Special Jury Prize at the Montreal Independent Film Festival.
Set against the aftermath of the failed 2016 coup attempt in Türkiye, Exodus centres on a university lecturer and police officer who are accused of being terrorists and forced to abandon their homes and loved ones to escape detention.
Their paths become intertwined with those of a Yazidi girl fleeing ISIS, a Kurdish artist and a Congolese migrant as they place their fate in the hands of people smugglers in a desperate attempt to leave Türkiye. Although coming from very different backgrounds, all are united by their search for safety and freedom.
For Nihat, however, the film was never simply about the politics surrounding migration. His aim was to look beyond statistics and headlines and focus instead on the individuals caught up in circumstances that force them to leave everything familiar behind.
As the director told T-VINE when the film premiered, he wanted to “give a human face to the migration issue”, depicting not only fear and desperation but also the humour, family bonds, love and compassion that remain present during extraordinary hardship. His director’s statement describes Exodus at its heart as a story about “desperation, love, compassion” and the human will to survive.
Following its festival run, Exodus received a worldwide digital release in June 2025.
The Dugdale screening offers North London audiences another opportunity to experience Nihat’s powerful debut on the big screen — and to discuss its themes and making with the filmmaker himself.
Event details
What: Exodus (2025) screening + Q&A with director Serkan Nihat
When: Thursday 1 October 2026
Where: Dugdale Arts Centre, 39 London Road, Enfield EN2 6DS
Presented by: Talkies Community Cinema
Tickets are available from the Dugdale Arts Centre. Click here to book tickets / find out more
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