film fest continued

I'll continue with my review of films:

West is West

This is the sequel to East is East, which was made I think over 10 years ago. The first film introduces us to the Khans, a half Pakistani, half British working class family that is struggling with their hybrid children in 1970's England. It's supposed to be funny but East is East gets pretty serious at the end. West is West takes places after most of the children have grown up but one, who is tormented in school for his Pakistani heritage. So his father (same actor from the first film) decides to take him back to his paternal homeland to show him some pride in his ancestral roots. And of course, it couldn't be a film about folks from the subcontinent without a wedding a scene.

Himalaya: A Path to the Sky

Ever wonder what it's like to start off being a monk in a Tibetan Buddhist monastery? Making meals, keeping warm in the above-alpine environment? This is a documentary for you. Pretty fascinating exposure to a way of life rarely glimpsed with amazing footage of the legendary mountain range.

Moner Manush or The Qwest

Epic on the life of a Bengali mystic poet. Beautiful music and scenery, many of which were shot in the country my family comes from. The original Bengali title refers to the Soul Man ... and the film is about Lalan's search for the soul man, peace, inner divinity, whatever it is you call it, that which is beyond legality, society, religion, and conflict.

The Traveler

Egyptian flick that was really weird. This is one that the film fest oversold ... unless you like surreal existentialist dramas. It follows a telegraph operator who rapes a woman after lying to her about his identity and is contacted by the following generations resulting from that event. He makes choices and seems to be tied to each generation's fatality, without knowing why. Apparently this film takes place over three days in the main character's life, each which signify a pivotal point in Arab history. It's deeply symbolic I suppose but you might have to do some research on what happened in the Arab world each of those days to get past the seemingly senseless drama.