Event

LE GRAND VOYAGE

(Ismal Ferroukhi, 2004, 35mm, 118min)
Introduction to film by Dr. Selim Kuru, Turkish Studies, University of Washington
A few weeks before his high school final exam, Rda, a young man who lives in the south of France, is chosen to drive his aging father to Mecca for the traditional pilgrimage. From the start, the journey promises to be difficult, as Rda and his father have nothing in common. They are separated by culture, language and religion. Rda is a modern young man who does not speak Arabic and cares little about his fathers deep sense of religion. Through Italy, Serbia, Turkey, Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, Rda and his father interact minimally and the grandiose settings and often-desolate landscapes reflect this uneasiness. As their journey progresses, their adventures and misadventures bring father and son closer, forcing mutual recognition and reconciliation. In Mecca, where the filmmaker received rare permission to shoot, Rdas father disappears in the crowd of pilgrims, never to return. In this road-movie, Ismal Ferroukhi handles cultural and generational differences with skill. In the directors efforts to stop the clichs that are carried around about a community that is deeply pacifist and peaceful. the film challenges preconceived ideas about Islam.
LE GRAND VOYAGE screens as part of the University of Washington's French and Francophone Film Festival
More info can be found at http://staff.washington.edu/stromj/festival/