Road to Maastir (2022)
| Road to Maastir | |
|---|---|
 Film poster for Road to Maastir | |
| Directed by | Mujahid el-Mahmood |
| Starring | |
Running time | 152 minutes |
| Country | Emmiria |
Road to Maastir is a 2022 Emmirian drama film written and directed by Mujahid el-Mahmood, starring Majdi al-Saad and Faadil Minhas. The movie recieved ten nominations at the 96th Tofino Film Festival and won 4, including Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor, Best Cinematography, and Best Visual Effects. Set in Kuye in 1983, the narrative follows Daamir, a reclusive, pacifist, Skith-born Emmirian teacher (al-Saad) tasked with delivering Mohammad, a docile Kuye murder suspect (Minhas), into the hands of Skithan authorities as the Kuye War ignites.
Plot
The events of the movie take place in Kuye, on the eve of the 1983 War. Daamir, a Skithan school-teacher goes about his day teaching geography to the Emmirian children from nearby villages, playing with them, and giving grain to their families. One of Daamir's acquaintances show up to his isolated schoolhouse to warn him about rising tensions between the Kuye resistance and the Skithan regime.
The following morning, Balducci, a Skithan gendarme and friend to Daamir, brings an Emmirian prisoner (who we find out is called Mohamed later on) to Daamir's schoolhouse. Balducci informs Daamir that he must take this prisoner to the nearby town, Maastir, and hand him over to the police department over there. He claims that he is unable to due to there being a lack of forces to prevent a potential uprising in the town of El Ameur. Daamir is displeased with the orders being given to him and outright refuses to comply. Despite Mohamed having killed his cousin over the theft of grain, Daamir insists that it is out of the question for him to take the man to the authorities as they will most probably sentence him to death without much deliberation. Balducci, frustrated, tells Daamir that Skith authorities already have an eye on him due to his friendliness with the locals. He then starts his trip back to El Ameur, leaving the prisoner and his fate in the hands of Daamir.
After sharing a meal together, Daamir sets up a bed for Mohamed, ensuring he is treated like a regular guest. At night, Mohamed falls sick prompting Daamir to tend to him. This helps ease the tension and grow trust between the two men. The next morning, Daamir is suddenly faced by a group of men in horses demanding he hand over their cousin. The situation quickly escalates and Daamir is forced to use a firearm to fend them off. After shooting one of their horses, the men disperse and flee whilst promising revenge. After the situation cools down, Daamir heatedly confronts Mohamed, blaming him for the events that had just taken place. Mohamed in turn asks Daamir to take him to the authorities in Maastir, to which Daamir responds to by telling him to go by himself. Mohamed reluctantly goes through with this, only to be met by Daamir quickly having a change of heart and agreeing to take the trip with him.
Daamir proceeds to pack essentials for the trek but just as they are about to leave, they are met with a group of Skithans searching for a man guilty of slaughtering their cattle. When they see Mohamed, they ask Daamir if he was the man in question. Daamir explains his situation, but the men insist that they can take care of his prisoner and call it a day. After Daamir's refusal to leave it to them, one of the Skithans gets agitated and threatens Daamir with his gun. Daamir quickly turns the situation around and holds the man at gunpoint. He expresses his empathy towards him having lost his cattle and then asks them all to leave.
Finally, after all this trouble, Daamir and Mohamed finally embark on their trip to Maastir. Unfortunately, not much time passes until they spot Mohamed's cousins in the distance searching for them. To avoid any further conflict, they deviate and follow a perilous path through the mountains. Shortly after, they accidentally confront a lone armed man riding a horse. The man is shown to be hesitant to pull the trigger as both parties try to de-escalate the situation. Nevertheless, the man fires the first shot and misses to which Daamir is forced to retaliate with a shot to the chest. Daamir quickly scrambles to try and resuscitate him but to no avail. Angered and frustrated, Daamir calls Mohamed a coward with no honor. Mohamed ignores this and begins to recite prayers in front of the man's body and then buries him with sand. The situation cools down and both men continue their hike through the desert.
Several hours of walking later, a heavy rain settles and the duo rush back to an abandoned village they had passed by earlier to take shelter and stay warm. Once rested and refuged from mother nature, Mohamed explains to Daamir why and how he got himself into this mess. He had killed his cousin for stealing grain since this grain was essential to keeping his parents and siblings fed. Had he let it happen, his family would have starved to death. Furthermore, his family was not able to pay the "blood-money" to appease their cousins, forcing Mohamed to flee and turn himself in to Skithan authorities. If he were to die at the hands of the Skithans, then his cousins would have nobody to take out their revenge on and neither would Mohamed's siblings seek retribution over their cousins. This was the only solution to Mohamed.
After having spent the night at the abandoned village, the pair are once again met with a group of armed men riding horses. This time, they were part of the Emmirian rebellion and were currently on their way to their base camp. They quickly confiscate any arms that Daamir and Mohamed were holding and decide to take them as temporary hostages. While held captive at the rebel base camp, Daamir takes note of a man who he recognized to have been an old friend from his days in the infantry. After a light-hearted reunion, Saamya, Daamir's friend, unties both of the hostages' hands. This cheerful moment is unfortunately short-lived as the rebels receive word that Skithan troops are approaching. Consequently, everybody in the camp packs up and start heading towards a nearby cave in order to hide.
In the cave, Saamya explains to Daamir how he must decide whether he was with or against the rebellion. Daamir, who had no intention to take part in any war, was caught aback by this as he had lived all of his life in Emmiria and had no qualms with either side. Saamya nevertheless leaves the decision up to Daamir. After this tense exchange, Daamir and Mohamed recount their experiences with women before going to sleep. Daamir explains to Mohamed how he got married in the city of Rhaga but unfortunately lost his wife. On the other hand, Mohamed never had the chance to get married and had never been with a woman.
The following morning, the rebels are ambushed by Skithan soldiers just as they leave the cave. The situation intensifies so much that the rebels are forced to flee from a back entrance to the cave. While escaping, most rebels are killed with only a few managing to escape, including Saamya. Daamir confronts the Skith troops and explains that Mohamed and him are mere hostages and are not involved in the uprising. The Skithan lieutenant verifies over radio that Daamir was a major in the army with a prisoner assigned to him and promptly releases them. Finally left to their own, Daamir and Mohamed continue their walk through the Emmirian desert.
Before reaching Maastir, Daamir decides to take Mohamed to the town of Berzina where has was born. There, Daamir reveals to Mohamed that his parents were actually from Sulifa and he had in fact no Skithan blood in him. Because of this, Daamir had always felt like an outsider in Emmiria. He then takes Mohamed to a bar in order to hire an escort for him. The bar owner, who knew Daamir when he was young, also hired him an escort. After this stop, the duo continue their trek.
Once Maastir is finally in view, Daamir offers Mohamed two choices. The first was to continue forward to Maastir and hand himself over to the authorities as he had planned. The second was to follow a secondary path that would lead him to a community of nomads willing to take him in. Mohamed deliberates over this for a long time but ultimately chooses the path towards the nomads. After saying their goodbyes, Daamir returns to his schoolhouse where he would teach his final lesson to his students before permanently leaving.
Cast
- Majdi al-Saad as Daamir
- Faadil Minhas as Mohamed
- Naseeba Naim as Saamya
- Gilbert Walsh as Balducci
- Morris Baly as Lieutenant Letall
- Odairr Corlett as Franciou
- Jawhar Asad as Abdelkader
- Maazina Radi as Rene
- Antoine Régent as Miina