Venice Beat
This is a day in the life of the Venice Beach Drum Circle as told by those who give their weekends, not to mention their hearts and souls, to this musical oasis. Removed from the stereotypes of Los Angeles, these patrons of rhythm transform the beach into a spiritual and harmonious gathering. Social norms disappear as the drummers and dancers discover what it means to be human. An infectious beat, moving bodies, and a colorful setting make this film as pleasurable to the eyes as it is the soul.
Moving Canvases
From the shores of the Arabian Sea to the peaks of the Himalayas, highways are filled with Moving Canvases. Truck Art is the unique practice of transforming cargo carriers into masterpieces. Throughout South Asia, especially in Pakistan, huge sums of money, years of experience and training, and painstaking detail have brought artwork to every city, village, and port with a road. Their inimitable style has evolved into a genre of art that is extending into a broader culture. The story of this phenomenon, its origins, influence, and future, are explored in this film that finds the extraordinary in the ordinary.
Madrassas
One of the most elementary and controversial institutions in Islamic society, madrassas provide education to innumerable youths and yet are frequently portrayed as breeding grounds for terror. As this film provides background and history, it also tells the story of one Pakistani boy beginning his education at a local madrassa. Through visually powerful images, prayer, fear, learning, and poverty are portrayed on a personal and human level. This moving journey is accented by the views and ideas of religious, political, and community leaders across the globe. From the mesh of perspectives and experiences comes a better understanding of the madrassas and the discrepancy between reality and perception.
The Lost Generation
A story about the orphans and abandoned children left behind by the Taliban. They are now growing up all over South Asia in a culture of poverty, drugs, arms, exclusion, and complete lack of education, making them prime candidates for a new crop of extremists. These children will soon reach an age when they will be a force to contend with, completing a cycle that prevents progress and spreads violence. Powerful, rare footage collected over the past five years chronicles these troubled young lives and asks us to look towards the future for hope.
Ten Days of Muharram
The martyrdom of Imam Hussein is re-lived every year through an emotional, moving, violent, and sometimes unbearable ritual. Muharram marks the beginning of the year for all Muslims, but it is the Shias in particular who devoutly practice this rite of remembrance. Its ten days are filled with deep-rooted traditions and unwavering faith culminating in bloody self flagellation. Entering a striking world that is closed to foreigners, the film looks at ‘ritual' and the reasons for it. Passionate and vivid, Muharram is a fascinating expression of love and devotion and its effect is undeniable.
Basant: The Kite Festival
In Lahore, the capital of Pakistani Punjab, is perhaps the most colorful holiday in the world. For centuries, the people here have welcomed the spring in a week-long celebration focused on the kite. Millions are made, sold, flown, and gambled upon while the city joyously eats, drinks, and dances. The festival's twists and turns would confuse any visitor, but an enormous amount of energy drives it all forward. The film gets caught up in the fun and makes this historic event feel new.
- Click here to view Basant: The Kite Festival website
Mystics & Saints
Islam across South Asia has many faces. One intriguing face is that of ritual and tradition, filled with color, rhythm, song, and even magic and the supernatural. The story is about Sufis, saints and sinners, some living, some dead, and the millions of people who flock to their shrines seeking offspring, wealth, health, power, and often riddance from evil spirits, demons and djinns.
Fading Strokes Rang-e-Naza
Rang-e-Naza Pakistan’s rich cultural heritage has been fueled by a variety of traditional artistic art forms such as truck art, Sufi poster art, cinema billboard art etc. Hand painted cinema billboards of yester years are one of the icons of Pakistan’s entertainment industry and street culture.
Saving The Indus
Anyone who has seen Al Gore ’s ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ is by now familiar with what is happening to our climate, our glaciers, and our water sources. The mighty Indus as it was once known is no exception.
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