Bawke

Bawke (which means "Daddy") is a very acclaimed and prize winning short movie, which has a very dramatically approach. We follow a father and his young son as they arrive as illegal immigrants to Oslo, Norway, after being hidden in a trailer arriving there.

The film has a strong dramatically drive, which obviously is the reason for the film getting such recognition.

The film maker Hisham Zaman is himself a Kurdish refugee, arriving in Norway as a teenager, later on graduating from the Norwegian Film Academy in Lillehammer. With this, and his three feature film after this one, has won him close to 50 awards and film prizes. No surprise, since this is one of the better short film I've ever seen.

This is a really great short film that I was fortunate enough to see while at Sundance. I'm not sure who the kid actor is, but his performance is incredible. Literally, the most powerful performance I've seen from a child actor since Joel Haley Osment (sp?) in the 6th Sense.

The cinematic style is gritty and real -- just beautifully shot. It's paced perfectly. The musical score is incredible. Really one of those rare short films that you see that emotionally invests the audience -- probably the best of its kind since the short film "Most" -- which played at Sundance in 2003. I think half the audience was crying during the screening.

If you get a chance, I think it's definitely worth checking out. The final shot is beautifully conceived -- and a testament to the director's talent. One picture saying more than I could in a thousand words. I guess my only criticism is that the crux of the story borders on resorting to cheap sentimentality.

Having known the director may influence in my commentary. But in cinema alike in arts is impossible to unlink ones personal point of view and personal life from creation. You have to talk about what you know. Any other way would be false.

Commitment in this work is present and absolutely necessary. We can talk about what we know and not other stuff.

Whats more surprisingly in "Bawke" is Hisham's capability to talk in a clear way of universal themes trough his personal life. I would like to point out that Isham is a Kurdish refugee not an inmigrant, there's a notable difference them, but is obvious that he is specially sensibilized to the themathic treated in his film.