Midnight Traveler

Reminded me of the movie "Afghan Cycles" "The Taliban came with forced marriages, underage marriages, & honor killings; a girl could be killed just for riding a bicycle." I see the Taliban as playing our current president (USA), who seems not to support women's rights, and democratic foundations whether w/the Kurds or Afghans. The Taliban pursue to kill an Afghan filmmaker, his wife & two daughters. This doc follows them as they drive, walk, hide and are detained for three years as they journey for freedom & safety in Europe.

This opens up an unseen world. The closeness with the family of immigrants escaping and the dangerous journey they take gives an unforgettable insight into their lives. The film can change the perception of what people see when they see immigrants.

Midnight traveler haunts me. It confronts me with the brutal reality of the suffering that is experienced by countless people fleeing from violence and chaos because of war. But that is only one side of the violence.

Ironically as the family fled to other nations's refugee camps, another form of rejection and violence erupted. The local people protested with violence against the refugees and it reveals the our human response of apathy and hostility towards the refugees. The director didn't have to plan this as the film simply captures the universal human problem of self-interest, tribalism and selfishness and it is reflected right back to ourselves.

This is a good film.

Some strengths are: It gives a raw view into the difficult life of refugees by using real footage. It draws an interesting parallel between the innocence of the daughters and the knowledge of the parents. It manages to take footage shot completely on mobile phones and turn it into a coherent film. It effectively develops relatable characters who the audience can empathize with.

Some failures are: Sure, this movie is only 90 minutes long, but somehow the editor made it feel like 90 years long. I get that it is based on true events and real footage, but that's no excuse for boring editing. There's nothing wrong with making this a 65 minute film at the expense of empty scenes. The music is nauseating. Every scene ends with an obnoxious crescendo, leading to a jump cut into a new scene. Oddly enough, in a Q and A with the editor of this movie I attended, the editor herself said that the music and sound design were her favorite aspects of the movie. Yeah, the sound design is ok, but the music is trash. Nobody will be looking up the soundtrack and vibing to it. It's trash. The sound design is mediocre. Scenes that feel like they should be the same volume constantly shift volumes. The narration is forced, and it feels like propaganda which is a shame.

In all, it is worth seeing if you have nothing else to watch.

Following the dual point of view from the filmmaker (- as a documentary director as well as a refugee), we, far from the war zone, are taken into a long journey named uncertainty, with the filmmaker's own family on the run towards EU. With its main characters full of love and determination, and regardless of the imbalance on the film's technical side, this docu-drama is simply so engaging not just because of the whole run/adventure being dramatic and suspenseful in nature, but because the filmmakers are deeply honest, reflective, and COURAGEOUS. A decent reminder to all of us --Life is hard, but let's be courageous!