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Outcaste the House that Carol Built (2016)
"A Beautiful Metaphor for Manifesting One's Dreams"
Outcaste the House That Carol Built
With a lovely narration by Laura Graham, and a little magical animation, Outcaste the House that Carol Built, follows three hopefuls, Carol, Chetan and Raju on a spiritual quest through the Himalayan mountains.
On the surface, their mission: to acquire the means to build free-spirited, seventy-six-year-old, Carol, her dream of a house in India. On a deeper level however, each character seeks their own strength, courage and faith within themselves, Carol's vision, and a higher power, all amidst the uncertainty that is life itself.
As Carol aligns herself with the cosmos through meditation, their journey becomes a beautiful metaphor for manifesting one's dreams. With great sentiment and eloquent execution, the house imagined in the film, becomes a symbol of strength and determination. Land that Chetan has generously given for the house to be built upon, is not just for the organic farming Carol wants, but for Chetan's family and Carol to live on, and is a true gift of love, for, "A patch of land means you belong."
In a country that allegedly abolished its caste system, Carol's "untouchable" secretary, Chetan, although a post graduate of history, is still shunned from many a temple. Chetan, a Rickshawala, or rickshaw driver, Raju, a former child Buddhist monk who ran away, and Carol, a woman, and by her own mind, an outcast, somehow all have a great understanding in being misunderstood. Social system aside, this doesn't stop the group from working together to accomplish something beyond themselves. An important reminder in this currently chaotic and everchanging world that if we practice sharing and we have a sense of mutualism, we can work together as a global community and achieve the impossible.
Outcaste the House that Carol Built, whispers to the dreamer in each of us, "If the why is big enough, the how will follow." And with its sense of purpose and intuitive meditative perspective, the film seems to capture the true mysticism that is India. A must see for anyone with big dreams...
In Another Life (2014)
A Super Masterpiece!
It's the beautiful simplicity in its true-to-everyday-life-telling which makes "In Another Life" stand apart as the beautiful gem it is.
Following the paths of a couple dealing with the monotony and listlessness of a life which appears to have no joy, audiences will connect to this story in its relatable and utterly unfulfilled characters. These rich characters of lonely, aging mothers and sad, trapped couples, accentuate feelings of isolation constructed by the demands of our modern societies. And as the world within this film appears to speeds up, each of these characters seems to slow down, failing to connect to one another or even to themselves, eternally stuck in their current hollow existences. The film unconsciously addresses the old-age question: why are we here?
From the Uta Hagen-like acting, to the egoless direction, this film is flawless. A must-see!
Cairo Year Zero (2014)
Two Thumbs Up
In Cairo Year Zero, Director/Writer, Niko Volonakis, draws his audience into a journey rife with tension: a vibrant reflection of the social and political state of Egypt prior to the Egyptian Revolution of 2011. With Egypt's Emergency Law suppressing constitutional rights and legalizing censorship, not-to-mention, enforcing police brutality, watching Cairo Year Zero is like observing a pot boil, as something is certain to explode. Volonakis's characters search for an escape from their repressive environment, finding reprieve only within the safety of their intimate friendships. As they struggle to understand why things don't feel right, they realize the time to take a stand is now.
A truly beautiful, gritty piece illustrating the struggles of the human condition from a personal and global perspective.