A father, accompanied by his son, goes looking for his daughter who has disappeared from a rave in Morocco. When the duo crosses paths with a group of misfits, their trip over the Atlas Mountains gradually becomes a coming-of-age odyssey.

The latest from director Oliver Laxe, Sirât is the proverbial long, strange trip. Part adventure, part mystic-existential odyssey, it is the boldest enterprise to date from a filmmaker who has a taste for grappling with the challenges of the real – as witnessed in the flame-steeped vistas of his last film, 2019’s Fire Will Come, set in Galicia.

In Cannes Competition title Sirât, he teams Catalan actor Sergi López with a cast of non-professionals exuding pungent ‘real thing’ vibes, in a travelogue drama that raises the ante on his previous Moroccan venture, 2016’s Mimosas.

 

“It draws you out of your seat with a mighty succession of sonic rumbles, then promptly knocks you back into it with the most jolting of tragedies.” — Justin Chang, The New Yorker

 

Explore the full programme at nziff.co.nz.