Sirât

Exploring themes of endurance, surrender and inner stillness, Óliver Laxe’s striking, wholly original existential thriller is a richly sensory encounter that lingers long after viewing. A father, with his son in tow, searches the Moroccan desert for his daughter, who absconded from home and might have taken up with a group of revellers seeking an alternative way of living. What starts out as a remarkable, other-worldly journey, transforms into a meditative inquiry into loss, grief and spirituality. Central to the film is its evocative score – a powerhouse of churning, grinding techno by composer Kanding Ray. More than an accompaniment, the music operates as an emotional, spatial and temporal modulator – one that invites us to abandon interpretation and submit to Laxe’s and utterly unique perspective on the world. A visually and aurally arresting road trip, which demands to be seen on the biggest screen, Sirât is a profound work by one of contemporary cinema’s most distinctive and poetic voices.

Stuart Brown, Director of Programme and Distribution

Audio Description available at all screenings.

Descriptive subtitles will be presented at these screenings: Tue 10 Mar 17:55 NFT4; Wed 11 Mar 15:00 NFT4; and Wed 18 Mar 18:10 NFT4.

See our Sirât Member Salon.