Friday, June 20, 2008

Parvana's Journey

Author(s): Connor Campbell
Location: Carrollton, Texas

"Parvana's Journey”

Directed by Milos Forman
Written by Deborah Ellis

Principal Cast:

Parvana- Keisha Castle Hughes
Asif- Kishan Shrikanth
Leila- Ayesha Kapoor
Shauzira- Benaf Dadachandji
Parvana’s Father- Naveen Andrews
Hassan- Unknown Iraqi Actor, 6 Months Old
Parvana’s Mother- Parminder Nagra
Parvana’s Older Sister- Marina Golbahari
Parvana’s Younger Sister- Unknown Iraqi Actress, Age 11.

Tagline: "See terror through a child’s eyes"

Synopsis: In this sequel to the award winning “The Breadwinner”, the movie begins with Parvana (Hughes) dressed as a man crying as she buries her father (Andrews) who has succumbed to illness. She runs away looking for safety from the Taliban. While running, she looks for places to hide overnight. One night, she is roaming through a bombed out village she finds a young crippled boy with one leg named Asif (Shrikanth) and Another night while hiding in a cave finds a baby boy she names Hassan. While traveling with her new “brothers”, they are lost in a minefield until a young girl named Leila shows them the way out. As the four travel, a series of flashbacks teach us about their pasts. We learn that Asif’s parents had died and his uncle became his guardian. His uncle beat him daily until he escaped. Leila’s mother went of in search of her father & grandmother and Leila waits for her mother everyday and cries. We also learn about Hassan’s parents and what happened to them as well as learning what happened to Parvana’s father. Bombings keep them moving trough Afghanistan. But when Leila runs into a minefield trying to collect food parcels, Parvana must deal with death again. Parvana writes Shauzira daily. Through her letters, we see a child struggling to understand why she can’t be happy. Parvana has flashbacks of when life was good, back when her brother was alive and food was plentiful. Parvana, Asif & Hassan continue roaming until they reach a refugee camp in Pakistan. There they find Parvana’s family. They take in Hassan & Asif and they are now free from the Taliban’s grip. But what about Shauzira?

What the press would say:

I didn’t think that it would live up to the original, but Parvana’s Journey delivers!! Keisha Castle Hughes comes into this performance with a better knowledge of the character. She brings you in the movie and makes you want to cry for her. Her performance is so believable and won’t be ignored come Oscar time. Milos Forman directs this beautifully & couldn’t be done any better. Ayesha Kapoor as Leila is obviously the breakout performer of the year and I really hope she’s recognized at Oscar time. Another performance that surprised me was Kishan Shrikanth as Asif who has really made a name for his self here in the states. Deborah Ellis has successfully created yet another masterpiece. This film has tremendous potential, but it’s August release date could hurt, but some films are just too good to be ignored.

NOMINATIONS
Best Picture
Best Director- Milos Forman
Best Actress- Keisha Castle-Hughes
Best Actor- Kishan Shrikanth
Best Supporting Actress- Ayesha Kapoor
Best Adapted Screenplay- Deborah Ellis
Best Cinematography
Best Editing
Best Sound Editing
Best Original Score
Best Special Effects

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