Where Is the Land?

I watched Where is the Land? at the Kolkata Film Festival 2012. The director, Hushyar Z. Nerwayi was there himself and was introduced by the festival director just before the film begun. Where is the Land? is a drama that follows a couple living in a village near the Iraq-Turkey border as they go through a testing phase over a period of few days.

While the theme is heavy in itself, occasional humour and a light-hearted perspective lend a somewhat distant air to the film. The director perhaps wishes for the audience to be just that - a third person watching events unfold, rather than put the audience in the shoes of his characters. As a result, Where is the Land is a light and enjoyable viewing and does not really suck one into its universe.

The acting is good. The film does not end with a definite conclusion but hints strongly enough to leave little scope for debate regarding how things would have broadly unfolded soon after.

The strength of Where is the Land lies in its character development while its weakness is an approach which is, well, a bit too weak to actually engulf or even force the audience into thinking or empathizing.