Facing Mecca

The warm relationship between Roli and Fareed is rather unusual as they come from different faiths and cultures. Roli totally respects Fareed's religion and its beliefs and rituals. That he thought of a creative way to satisfy the precepts of Fareed's religion is something that the viewer identifies with. But will the local council object if it did find out what Roli did to settle the impasse?

What I couldn't understand though, which the short film missed to explain, is the ending. Why did Fareed do what he did? Was it necessary?

It may be a short film but it's heartwarming and enlightening. The main actors do well in portraying their respective characters. Nothing overly dramatic but it drives home an important point in the short time it has to do it.

I am Syrian, like the lead actor Jay Abdo. First I want to thank all who worked on this beautiful film, including our star Jay and his fellow European actors and producers. This is a small demonstration of how we've become; even preferring to be buried out of our home country over being sent there because unfortunately, even dead people are prone to injustice in Syria. The plot is about Fareed who wants to bury his wife in the Islamic way (facing Mecca literally), but he faces different opinions about that instead.

As Muslim refugees in Europe, we really have this conflict between people who can understand and accept us the way we are, and others who have a difficulty in accepting our different culture. Overall, the film was fair to all parties and was very good. I hope our problems end and we all come back to our homes!