A confident and mature feature debut which won a Tiger Award at the 2003Rotterdam Flim Festival, Stranger boldly invents its own visual language to describe the outer and Inner world of a man who has become a stranger to life. The protagonist is Axel, a man of about 40. He′s a doctor who. for reasons that remain unstated, no longer practices his craft. Axel lives temporarily with his sister and her children, but drifts through the days barely speaking to them. In a coffee shop, he meets Erika, a young, pregnant woman. A relationship of sorts develops between them. Axel moves in with Erika but continues to live in emotional solitude. A ghost of a man, he provides a physical presence but no companionship or communication. The film derives its intensity through beautiful camera work and lighting, a poignant soundtrack, and the emotionally precise yet subdued acting. Writer/director Loza succeeds in depicting things that are not easily perceptible in a human life, but which are deeply felt. As he notes, "This is a film of cautious words, of a fragile silence."