Sirât

Spain’s official Oscar entry is a gripping, visceral, and metaphysical thriller. Sergi López plays Luis, a man desperately searching for his missing daughter Mar throughout the harsh southern deserts of Morocco, along with his son Esteban (Bruno Núñez Arjona) and their dog Pipa. At the film’s beginning – a pulsating open-air rave – the trio drifts through throngs of entranced and sweaty partygoers, handing out flyers with photos. As soldiers move in to shut down the festivities, father and son follow and ultimately join a motley bunch of roving ravers (memorably played by non-professionals) who set out in their van in search of the next party – and hopefully Mar – as hints of impending war multiply.

With swirling dust storms and solar flashes alighting the landscapes – stunningly enhanced by director of photography Mauro Herce’s exquisite Super 16mm and a score by techno stalwart Kangding Ray – the expedition increasingly transforms into a sensorial experience that tests physical and psychological limits. Simultaneously explosive and introspective – a film in which spirituality and altered states of consciousness exist alongside raw, sober humanity – Sirāt, which means ‘path’ in Arabic, explores how loss, grief, and violence can imbue life with intensity and clarity. (source: www.tiff.net)

Spanish spoken, English subtitled.