The Art of Flight was the first movie I caught at the Bangkok Film Festival 2006.
The director Davin Anders Hutchins travels guerrilla style through Sudan for the first 15 minutes of the movie to show the absolute hopelessness of the people due to the unrest in Sudan. This lays out the field for the main focus of the commentary - the plight of the Sudanese refugees who have taken 'refuge' in Sudan looking for a better life and are now desperately looking for a way out of their miserable existence in Egypt to a third country - and how much they have to fight and struggle just for a reasonable life. All this is happening under the suffocating umbrella of a un-democratic, oppressive Egyptian government that has pretends to democracy but is far from it - but has received legitimacy from the U.S. for its own ulterior motives.
The UNHCR far from being an agency that tries everything in it power to help the refugees instead participates in the oppression and stifling of the refugees voice and hopes - many times causing the refugees to make creative and desperate attempts.
A sad state of affairs all around. The fact that the documentary does not give much voice to the Egyptians side of things - be it government, NGOs or the man on the street - leaves us with an incomplete feeling - because for people not associated with Egypt/Sudan etc, there is no way of knowing that side of things - which is equally important to complete the portrait.
Still, a very good documentary by the American writer-journalist who is also an Egyptian and who wanted to tell a story - which is also about his personal investment into some of the refugees lives and the poignant un-expected dis-trust of one of the families he tries to help - that of Jere.
Very commendable too since Mr.Hutchins has obviously invested a lot both financially and emotionally to tell this story.
The director Davin Anders Hutchins travels guerrilla style through Sudan for the first 15 minutes of the movie to show the absolute hopelessness of the people due to the unrest in Sudan. This lays out the field for the main focus of the commentary - the plight of the Sudanese refugees who have taken 'refuge' in Sudan looking for a better life and are now desperately looking for a way out of their miserable existence in Egypt to a third country - and how much they have to fight and struggle just for a reasonable life. All this is happening under the suffocating umbrella of a un-democratic, oppressive Egyptian government that has pretends to democracy but is far from it - but has received legitimacy from the U.S. for its own ulterior motives.
The UNHCR far from being an agency that tries everything in it power to help the refugees instead participates in the oppression and stifling of the refugees voice and hopes - many times causing the refugees to make creative and desperate attempts.
A sad state of affairs all around. The fact that the documentary does not give much voice to the Egyptians side of things - be it government, NGOs or the man on the street - leaves us with an incomplete feeling - because for people not associated with Egypt/Sudan etc, there is no way of knowing that side of things - which is equally important to complete the portrait.
Still, a very good documentary by the American writer-journalist who is also an Egyptian and who wanted to tell a story - which is also about his personal investment into some of the refugees lives and the poignant un-expected dis-trust of one of the families he tries to help - that of Jere.
Very commendable too since Mr.Hutchins has obviously invested a lot both financially and emotionally to tell this story.
