Cinemagic has started their weekly screening again and their first film will be Baraka.

I saw Baraka over a year ago at the Grand Mosque of Kuwait…and I LOVED it. Here’s what I said then: [LINK TO POST ABOUT BARAKA]

Here’s more info on the screening from Cinemagic’s Facebook group:

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Cinemagic is delighted to invite you to our weekly screening program. Screenings take place at our new location in Old Salmiya, above LG Electronics.

This Week, we will be screening “BARAKA”.

An ancient Sufi word translated as a blessing or as the essence of life from which the evolutionary process unfolds.

The film is a work of art, which rates amongst the greatest achievements in the field. With the theme of man’s diversity and his impact upon the environment, the film is photographed on six continents in 24 countries including Tanzania, China, Brazil, Japan, Nepal, the U.S, Europe, and Saudi Arabia… It has no story and no dialogue, yet transcends geography and language to provide a sensual and spiritual experience that enables the viewer to look at the world in a totally different way purely through cinema along an ambient soundtrack by Michael Sterns who weaves the images together on a separate plain, producing a hypnotic pathway for the images to flow. Once you allow yourself to be pulled along by this current of sound, the images will link themselves together and the true revelations hidden within BARAKA will make themselves apparent. And what you may take from this film will solely be determined by the life experience you bring to it… may it be full of BARAKA.

For its part, Cinemagic Kuwait, is organizing these events as part of its efforts to contribute to the development of an internationally competitive Kuwaiti audio-visual production industry, partly by bringing the filmmakers and audiences together and by Increasing the public’s interest in – and appreciation for – the art of filmmaking.

As always, attendance is free of charge (but seating is limited). Snacks and refreshments will be served.

Bootlegged films are VERY cheap in Iran—about 300 fils—so I brought smuggled in about 70 to Kuwait, hehehehehehehe….Here’s a one line review of 21 films

Non-English Films

Hindi:

1. Jodha Akbar: Recommended by Amu. Great cinematography. Loved the sword fighing scene between Ash and Hrithik The film got me to google Akbar the Great. Found out there were some historical inaccuracies but not enought to distort the truth too much. BTW, did you know that Akbar was the grandfather of Shah Jahan of Taj Mahal?

French:

1. Persepolis: This film could be a page out the book of ANY Iranian who lived in Iran during the 80s and early 90s

Iranian Films

1. Ali Santuri (English title: The Musician): Only reason I watched it is coz it’s banned in Iran. If you wanna put yourself through more than an hour of torture then watch this film.
2. Nesf Maleh Maan, Nesf Maleh Tow (English title: Half mine, Half yours): A fun family film.

Half English/Half Farsi film

1. The Kite Runner: The book was MUCH more poignant.

English Films

1. Rendition: Thought pace was too slow but liked the way the two timelines interlocked. Reese Witherspoon’s role was way too trivial.
2. A Might Heart: Pace too slow, film a bit weak, could have focused more on the emotional side of it; liked Jolie’s new hairdo though.
3. The Night Listener: not a lot of suspense for a suspenseful film
4. The Kingdom: Got to see it again to comment
5. The Bourne Ultimatum: Matt Damon was HOT
6. National Treasure 2: Liked part 1 much better; learned some interesting tidbits, like there are two Eiffel Towers
7. No Country for Old Man: I am now convinced that members of the Oscars academy are officially blind, deaf and with no sense of artistic taste!!
8. Lions for Lambs: A loooooooooong lecture. You might as well just watch a political debate on CNN. Tom Cruise was his annoying self.
9. Jesse James: Was never a fan of Brad Pitt; this film proved why.
10. I am Legend: Will Smith is HOT!!
11. The Golden Compass: Nicole Kidman is forcing me to cross her off my list of fav actresses
12. Atonement: The only reason I watched it till the end was coz I was too lazy to reach for the remote to switch off the TV.
13. Juno: Loved her character, especially her wit. Screenplay was excellent. Though I did think they toned down the trials of teenage pregnancy.
14. Meet the Spartans: LOL..much more realistic than 300
15. Elizabeth: Made me google it; the film has some historical inaccuracies. Thought the real Queen Elizabeth would have been much more interesting than the one depicted in this film.

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What a magical night it was last night! The soothing breeze didn’t let go of its embrace all night. With my mind clear, my heart light, my soul at ease it was the perfect night to watch “Baraka”.

Baraka is the first film of a “3 Evening Events” that ‘The Culture Sector Office’ of The Grand Mosque of Kuwait is hosting to promote inter cultural understanding.

And Baraka did exactly that. With no narration, no dialogue, no words, mere images choreographed with an enchanting music, it took your mind on a sensual journey in and out of people’s beliefs, rituals, and vices. Unlike other films where one passively takes in the storyline as it is dictated to them, with Baraka one has to connect to their personal soul, cultural knowledge, and openness to interpret the mélange of the audiovisual messages.

I’m still lost in my interpretation; still mesmerized by the beauty and the “Baraka” of our world, still at awe at our lost souls dwelling in coffin-like “homes”; still perplexed by the skull-museum of genocide victims, still at awe by the connectedness of world rituals-of our collective conscious; still trying to figure out the messages in the eyes of the snow monkey in the hot springs of Japan, in the eyes of the aborigine in Australia, , in eyes of the 3 kids of Yanomami Tribe, in the eyes of the girl from Iran, in the eyes of the monk…and in my eyes.

Still have 1 question in mind: Are we losing God’s Baraka?

More Info about the film:

Baraka was shot in the following countries: Alaska, Arizona, Australia, Brazil, California, Cambodia, Colorado, Ecuador, Egypt, France, Hawaii, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Kina, Kuwait, Mexico, Nepal, New Mexico, Peru, Poland, Thailand, Turkey & USA.

PLOT SYNOPSIS (taken from ALLMovie)

Named after a Sufi word that translates roughly as “breath of life” or “blessing,” Baraka is Ron Fricke’s impressive follow-up to Godfrey Reggio’s non-verbal documentary film Koyaanisqatsi. Fricke was cinematographer and collaborator on Reggio’s film, and for Baraka he struck out on his own to polish and expand the photographic techniques used on Koyaanisqatsi. The result is a tour-de-force in 70mm: a cinematic “guided meditation” (Fricke’s own description) shot in 24 countries on six continents over a 14-month period that unites religious ritual, the phenomena of nature, and man’s own destructive powers into a web of moving images. Fricke’s camera ranges, in meditative slow motion or bewildering time-lapse, over the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, the Ryoan-Ji temple in Kyoto, Lake Natron in Tanzania, burning oil fields in Kuwait, the smoldering precipice of an active volcano, a busy subway terminal, tribal celebrations of the Masai in Kenya, chanting monks in the Dip Tse Chok Ling monastery…and on and on, through locales across the globe. To execute the film’s time-lapse sequences, Fricke had a special camera built that combined time-lapse photography with perfectly controlled movements of the camera. In one evening sequence a desert sky turns black, and the stars roll by, as the camera moves slowly forward under the trees. The feeling is like that of viewing the universe through a powerful telescope: that we are indeed on a tiny orb hurtling through a star-filled void. The film is complemented by the hybrid world-music of Michael Stearns.

Images from the film (taken from Spirit of Baraka)

Video Clips from the film (From YouTube)

1. The Kecak Dance of Bali Indonesia

2. A snow monkey (at peace)

3. Modern life (maybe why we aren’t at peace)

1. To start off, I’m an Iranian born in Kuwait
2. I have seen 32 summers and autumns pass by, but only 31 winters and springs.

3. I have lived in Kuwait, Montréal, Toronto, Isfahan and Tehran. I have traveled to England, France, Greece, Italy, Spain, and Turkey. And I have had 1 day visits to Boston, Pakistan, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Qatar.
4. I currently live in Kuwait.
5. I terribly miss Tehran. Things I miss most: the mountains, vali-asr street in autumn (because of the magical beauty of the foliage and the various colors and the way the trees are suspended over the street as if they are leaning in to hug you), the smell of Jasmine eespeciallyin the mornings, cool early morning breeze, watching the sunrise or sunset at Darband, sweet smell of snow, smell of freshly baked Iranian bread, Modarees highway and its breath taking greenery, yes even the exasperating traffic.
6. I’ve been an ESL (English as a second language) teacher for over 11 years now.
7. I love love, love and love chocolate. Chocolate anything: bar, cake, ice-cream, hot drink, biscuit, pudding, and especially frosting. I once ate a kilogram of chocolate ice cream in 3 hours.
8. Listening to the sound of rain hitting the roof of my car always makes me smile
9. I have never been in love
10. I procrastinate. One good example is this blog. I created it last week but only making an entry now (pat on my back)
11. I bought a guitar just so I could sit on the beach and play “Yea Divareh” (a Persian song). The guitar is now gathering dust
12. I love my niece to bits.
13. I love singing in the car. Switching off the car if one of my favorite songs is on is considered as a moral sin. The right path to take in this situation is to sing along till it finishes then get out of the car
14. I have not read a book in 9 years. The last book I read was the Persian translation of “The Alchemist”. A friend forced me to read it. I can’t even remember the last English book I read.
15. Before moving to Iran I used to read at least 3 books a month
16. I have never lied to a friend. I just do not tell them the whole story (heehee)
17. Despite my best effort, I can’t stop my tears from falling when watching films, even comedies!! Hey I even get teary-eyed during cartoons, commercials, songs. Last time I cried was when listening to the line “Goodbye Michelle my little one” for the nth time in “Seasons in the sun”.
18. My spelling sucks; yes I did say I was an English teacher
19. I don’t consider downloading songs off the net as illegal nor immoral. I have never bought an original CD, only bootlegged ones. Is it wrong?
20. I talk to myself…yes even out loud if no one is on the room
21. My favorite 2 sounds are the sound of raindrops and waves
22. When taking a shower I always cover my ears and listen to the sound of water drop on my head.
23. Things I would like to do before I turn 35: bungee jumping, scuba diving, fly in a hot air balloon, and visit at least 2 more countries.
24. If my house is ever on fire, I would grab my diary, my picture album (including my picture CDs), and my box of mementos
25. I sign off all my emails with “Have a magical day”
26. My favorite word is “magical”
27. I over use the word “extremely” and “ass”
28. My biggest flaw is that I tend to jump to conclusions a lot. Hey blame it on my zodiac sign
29. My zodiac sign is cancer
30. I am also quite sensitive…again blame it on my sign
31. When I’m upset with someone, I could go for months without talking to them
32. My favorite album is “Affirmation” by “Savage Garden”
33. The best gift I have ever received was a book on tape translation of “The Little Prince”. The tape was narrated by Ahmed Shamloo.
34. The only French book I have ever read is the French version of this book. And yes, I have also read the English version.
35. For a while, my hobby was collecting quotations. Now I have no hobbies at all. Sad isn’t it?
36. My favorite flower is yellow daffodils; but my favorite floral scent is Jasmine. I used to watch out for those daffodil street vendors when stuck in traffic in Tehran. I thought to myself that if I knew for sure that paradise is full of that bright yellow glow of daffodil and the smell of Jasmine, I would try to be a better person so I could get in.
37. I always get lost when driving in Kuwait. I think that’s mostly because I have a little concert going on in my head (see no 13)
38. I hate asking for directions. I would drive around in circles for hours but would not stop for a millisecond to ask someone where the hell I am.
39. I only own 1 pair of shoes, 2 pairs of flip flops, and 1 pair of sneakers. I wonder if I have broken some kind of world record for the least pair of shoes owned by a woman. I once wore the same pair of shoes for 3 years.
40. I hate my hair. I have half a mind to shave it off and wear a different kind of wig everyday
41. I refuse to eat okra (lady fingers). Even looking at it is a bit torturous for me.
42. As a kid I once sat and prayed and begged God to punish Jerry for hurting Tom so much.
43. It used to really piss me off when people did not spell my name right after I had repeatedly corrected it for them. Now I am ok with it. Now if someone misspells my name I would just put a little curse on them
44. I also put curses on people who are late for appointments, meetings, outings, dates, etc
45. Whenever I am depressed all I have to do is go for a walk on the beach. The longest it has ever taken the beach to cheer me up is 10 seconds.
46. Films I have watched more than once within 2 days are: Forrest Gump, My big fat Greek wedding, Life is beautiful, The Others, From Karkhe to Rein (Iranian: Az kharkhe ta Rien), The color of paradise (Iranian: Raange-Khoda).
47. I can’t stand men who don’t tuck their shirts in when wearing formal attire.
48. I don’t believe in capital punishment. Not because I think it is a cruel and inhumane, but because I think it is not cruel enough. The best way to punish rapists and molesters is to put them in solitary confinement for life. I also believe that the sentence for these 2 crimes should be a lot harsher than homicide since when you rape or molest someone you have scarred them for life.
49. I don’t do mornings
50. I once got detention in primary school because my teacher realized that the nickname I had given him “Mr. Soosky” meant Mr. Cockroach in Farsi. I don’t know why I called him that. I actually had a little crush on him. Anyway, he made me write 500 times, “I will not call Mr Stanistosky (I think that was his name) Mr. Soosky”.