Midnight Traveler and Meaning Behind the Film
From the very beginning you already begin to make assumptions of the movie Midnight Traveler. Even before you actually watch the movie you would assume this would be a politically driven movie, in support of the refugee crisis. However, what sets this film apart from the others is the actual real-life outlook that it shows through the eyes of this small family. The film consists of the family of 4 (Hassan, his wife Fatima, and daughters Nargis and Zahra.)
We join their journey as they are preparing to leave Tajikistan and begin their long trip back to Afghanistan. At that time, they had applied for asylum and were denied by Australia. This then begins the audience’s journey into the resettlement of this family. We follow the families journey on both land and foot through many different countries. Currently the family is awaiting placement in Germany as their visa status is still under review. Throughout the film many different scenes stood out to me and some really made me think critically within myself. At one point during their journey one of their daughters complains about being bored and needing something to do. This to me stood out because out of all the problems they’re currently facing you wouldn’t think that boredom would be an issue that would stand out in the film.
Another scene that really stood out to me was right after they had just been attacked by the gang in Bulgaria. The attack itself wasn’t what truly surprised me what got me in the film was the crowds reaction. After they had been attacked a crowd formed to support them and just kept shouting, that not everyone shared the same views as the attackers. The outpour of love and protection from the people surrounding the refugees was what truly moved me. This moved me because while he was able to capture the ugly in the world in the same scene, he was also able to capture the truly beautiful side that humanity had to offer.
Photo from the Q&A with filmaker Hassan after the screening of Midnight Traveler
The film was also this years True and False festivals True Life Fund. What this means is in partnership with the local Crossing church they have been raising funds to hopefully be able to help the Fazili family. So before and after the film collection hats were sent around in the hopes of lessening the financial burden that came along with their long journey across Europe.
Overall to me the film was amazing and unlike the article by Vadim Rizov I feel like the movie had some scenes that will truly stay with me. In his article titled Sundance Film Festival 2019: Midnight Traveler, Midnight Family, he talks about how none of the images from the film will compare to other empathy inducing films he has seen before. I on the other hand think that Hassan did an amazing job capturing the essence of the journey in the scene where his daughter goes missing, that pulls at your heart strings in truly thinking what happened to his daughter. He continues talking about how what he would do if the worst had actually happened, and if it did would he then turn on the camera to film and add another cinematic angle to his movie. His hatred towards himself for even entertaining such an idea really makes you think about how much he was truly willing to share with everyone.
Along with the film the atmosphere at True and False is something that I don’t think I have experienced yet. Arriving early in the morning the festival had an air of excitement surrounding it. Waiting in line I could hear the many different conversations going on around me in hushed tones, regarding what they’d heard about this film and other films they had seen. Walking in you could truly feel the excitement of the moviegoers, and their eagerness to soak up their next film. Sitting down and beginning to unwind before the film I noticed the music coming from the corner of the theater. Truly soaking in the chill vibe themed music and listening to the ongoing conversations around me created a new movie goer experience. Overall the tru and false film fest was sort of eye opening, in that I could now see what happens before and after a film can provide to someones overall experience in film watching.
