Man Push Cart (2005)

Director:

Ramin Bahrani

Writer:

Ramin Bahrani

Release Date:

10 May 2006 (France)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

A night in the life of a former Pakistani rock star who now sells coffee from his push cart on the streets of Manhattan.

Plot Keywords:

Coffee | Pakistani | Immigrant | Push Cart | Pakistani American

Awards:

8 wins & 7 nominations

Cast

Ahmad Razvi	...	Ahmad
Leticia Dolera	...	Noemi
Charles Daniel Sandoval	...	Mohammad
Ali Reza	...	Manish
Farooq 'Duke' Muhammad	...	Duke
Panicker Upendran	...	Noori (as Upendran K. Panicker)
Arun Lal	...	Father-in-Law
Razia Mujahid	...	Mother-in-Law
Hassan Razvi	...	Ahmad's son
Mustafa Razvi	...	Pakistani Driver
Altaf Houssein	...	Altaf
Bill Lewis	...	Final Customer
Abdelrahma Abdelaziz	...	Friend at Bar
Ronak Ricky Patel	...	Newstand Worker
Shaana Diya	...	Club Worker
Bhavna Toor	...	Ahmad's Wife
Adrian Quezada	...	Ahmad's Baby
Atif Muhammad Mirza	...	Atif the Stab Victim
Rao Rampilla	...	Veterinarian (as R.N. Rao)
Issam Abdelkader	...	Push Cart Garage Owner
Qamar Bukhari	...	Guy in Karaoke
Asim Mujahid	...	Guy in Karaoke
Mousa Kraish	...	Guy in Karaoke
Mariam Sologashvili	...	Customer
Thomas Russo	...	Customer
Marc Bonnée	...	Customer (as Marcus Bonnée)
Paul Ross	...	Customer
Darryl Meadows	...	Customer
Linda K. Alexis	...	Customer
Damita Spencer	...	Customer
Katherine Boyle	...	Customer
David Boyle	...	Customer
Edward Harper	...	Customer
Ana Brzova	...	Girl Outside Club
Katharyn Yew	...	Karaoke Waitress
Cynthia Martín	...	Girl in Limo
Sybil Prince	...	Girl in Limo
Nicholas Elliott	...	Falafel Customer
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Bandar Albuliwi	...	Street Pedestrian
Afroz Hafeez	...	Customer
Kal Parekh	...	Club Patron (uncredited)
Jesus A. Del Rosario Jr.	...	P.O. Bentley (uncredited)

Directed by
Ramin Bahrani

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Ramin Bahrani

Produced by
Ramin Bahrani	....	producer
Brian Bell	....	co-producer
Bedford T. Bentley	....	producer (as Bradford T. Bentley III)
Scott Booth	....	executive producer
Tom Donahue	....	co-producer
Pradip Ghosh	....	producer
Anura Idupuganti	....	co-producer
Vinay Jayaram	....	executive producer
Sanjay Motwani	....	executive producer
Lisa Muskat	....	executive producer
Steve Sabba	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Peyman Yazdanian

Cinematography by
Michael Simmonds		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Ramin Bahrani

Art Direction by
Charles Dafler

Costume Design by
Elena Kouvaros

Production Management
Nicholas Frayn	....	production manager
John Freund	....	post-production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Nicholas Elliott	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Greg Bittar	....	sound assistant
David Crabb	....	additional foley editor
Tom Efinger	....	sound re-recording mixer
Tom Efinger	....	sound supervisor
Christof Gebert	....	production sound mixer
Christof Gebert	....	sound mixer
John Moros	....	assistant sound editor
Abigail Savage	....	sound designer
Nicholas Schenck	....	adr editor
Brian Vancho	....	foley artist

Camera and Electrical Department
Jon Higgins	....	still photographer
Mark Koenig	....	key gaffer
Katharina Rohrer	....	assistant camera

Casting Department
Kimberly Hope	....	casting associate (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Ed Beyer	....	film timer
Christina Kelly	....	assistant editor
Mike Maguire	....	color corrector: high definition
John Rehberger	....	on-line editor: high definition
Benjamin Stark	....	assistant editor
Jane Tolmachyov	....	color timer
John Wu	....	first assistant editor

Music Department
Dual	....	composer: additional original music
Sandra Trujillo	....	music supervisor

Other crew
Hooman Bahrani	....	manager: Noruz Films
David Frisco	....	title designer
Aden Hakimi	....	production assistant
Jesse Lehrhoff	....	production assistant
Matt Luxenberg	....	account executive: DuArt
Joe Monge	....	vice president of video operations: DuArt
Sybil Prince	....	intern
Himkar Tak	....	intern

Thanks
Aravind Adiga	....	special thanks
Bahareh Azimi	....	special thanks
Patrick Haischer	....	thanks

Production Companies

• Noruz Films (I)
• Flip Side Film (in association with)

Distributors

• Koch Lorber Films (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• Aquelarre (2006) (Spain) (theatrical)
• Ciné Classic (2006) (France) (theatrical)
• Dogwoof Pictures (2006) (UK) (theatrical)
• Films Philos (2006) (USA) (theatrical)
• Imagine Films Distribution (2006) (Belgium) (theatrical)
• Imagine Films Distribution (2006) (Luxembourg) (theatrical)
• Imagine Films Distribution (2006) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Medial (2006) (Greece) (theatrical)
• Divisa Home Video (2007) (Spain) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Dig-It Audio  audio post-production facility
• Du Art Film and Video  post-production facilities
• Jeremy Walker + Associates  publicity
• Taxpro Financial Network  accounting

Also Known As:

Runtime:

USA:87 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Urdu

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

UK:15 | Netherlands:6 | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Noruz Films (I)

an independent triumph

Reaching out with meaning far beyond its melancholy central story, this is an excellent film. It is, in simple terms, the tale of Ahmed, former rock star from Pakistan who finds himself, by way of domestic misfortune, pushing his coffee-and-donuts cart through the streets of NYC to make a living. Opportunities to escape his lonely lot come his way. Will he/won't he take them? But it's more than that: it's a story of the gulf between rich and poor; of the sensitive and the brutish; the pecking order of immigrants in the so-called Melting Pot; and of course the position in particular of Muslim immigrants post 9/11. In the end, Ahmed's cart becomes a symbol of the burdens that we give ourselves, that we don't know how to let go of, even when the chance comes to do so. It's beautifully photographed, superbly acted. A true independent.