The film 73°C unspools as an amalgamation of a thousand war cries pleading for justice and mercy.
The film, which is screening at the ongoing Dubai International Film Festival, follows Asia, Rayan and Ali, three Iraqi children who are victims of political and religious violence in the country, which has left them disfigured and disabled.
Particularly touching are moments such as one where a visually impaired young boy contemplates suicide with his father’s gun, without realising that his entire family is watching him through the doorway. Or one where a paraplegic girl walks with her father, only to see him break down and cry violently.
This film also follows filmmaker Baz Dinka as he attempts to enter his homeland that he has been barred from since the 1980s, in a desperate attempt to resolve inheritance issues and discover his lost roots and identity.
73°C, if anything, is unabashedly raw. The cuts are often jarring and turbulent. The visuals rough, grainy and dusty, as the land they come from. And the filmmakers waste no time completely thrusting the audience into this chaotic war zone, with no warning or discretion. It shows the absolute truth. It often feels like the result of stitching together tattered cloth from some gargantuan explosion. It is magnificent in its scope and its feverous veracity.
While it is easy to get lost in this film, the project is ultimately a meditation on hope. Resounding hope in the face of great despair and tragedy.
It has always been discussed whether a film offers an escape from this life, or a deeper entrance? You are assured this film is the latter. The experience will have you despairing along with the parents and laughing along with the children. It is both a celebration and a lamentation of the human condition.
