The refugee is the ultimate outsider; always a foreigner, except in the refugee camp – the place that is, by definition, foreign, existing outside of time and place, somewhere between the ruined house and an obscure, uncertain future. In the parallel universe of refugee camps, a special place is reserved for the most time-honored camps —the Palestinian refugee camps, some of which have existed for more than sixty years, and nearly all—for more than forty years. That implies two-three generations of "no-place" dwellers, unknown, unseen by most of the world. These settings, whose transience has become permanent, are at the core of Swiss artist Ursula Biemann’s film X-Mission. She is the outsider among outsiders, exploring various mechanisms that assist, control examine and question the camp’s microcosm, in all of its intricate historical, human, social, cultural, and political layers. Her "sources"—experts, refugees, former refugees, welfare and relief staff from various organizations—help her unfold a highly complex picture and story of what it means to observe and interpret the unique situation of the camp. To this end, Biemann deconstructs art and the artist’s omniscient sense of confidence. There is ample information, but the fragments refuse to provide unequivocal answers.
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