Archive of films Zero Bridge / Zero Bridge
India / USA
2008, 96 min
Section:
Another View
Year: 2009
Set in contemporary Kashmir, director Tariq Tapa’s feature debut unfolds a story of two young people longing for a better life and refusing to merely survive. Thanks to the casting of non-actors and the near documentary visual style, the director achieved maximum authenticity.
Synopsis
Seventeen-year-old Dilawar, who has left his adoptive mother, lives with Uncle Alim on the outskirts of Kashmir’s Srinagar City. He has dropped out of school to work for his uncle, but he dreams of leaving to join his mother in Delhi. In the meantime, he makes a little extra money doing homework for wealthy former schoolmates, and occasionally pickpocketing. One day, chance brings him together with one of his victims: a young woman named Bani, who has just returned from studying in the USA. Both long for a better life, rejecting the idea of mere survival. The mutual desire for a better future becomes the basis of their curious relationship. In his feature debut, Tariq Tapa opted to show the real face of Kashmir. In contrast to Western documentaries or Bollywood films, Tapa’s work focuses on the lives of simple people, their desires and fears. Thanks to the casting of non-actors and the near documentary visual style, the director achieved maximum authenticity.
About the director
Tariq Tapa was born in New York of Kashmiri Muslim and American Jewish descent. He received his BA in English from Rice University in Houston, then in 2004 he began studies in direction at the California Institute of the Arts, where he shot several shorts. One of these, Custody (2005), was nominated for a 2006 Student Academy Award, and was subsequently screened at New York’s Museum of Modern Art and the Centre Pompidou in Paris. In 2006, he received a Fulbright scholarship to shoot his graduation film, the debut feature Zero Bridge, which was presented at the 2008 Venice IFF.
Contacts
Visit Films
140 Havemeyer St., NY 11222, Brooklyn
United States of America
Tel: +1 718 312 8210
Fax: +1 718 362 4865
E-mail: [email protected]
www: www.visitfilms.com
About the film
Color, HD CAM
Section: | Another View |
---|---|
Director: | Tariq Tapa |
Screenplay: | Tariq Tapa |
Dir. of Photography: | Tariq Tapa |
Music: | Niyaz |
Editor: | Josée Lajoie, Tariq Tapa |
Producer: | Hilal Ahmed Langoo, Josée Lajoie, Tariq Tapa |
Production: | Joyless Films, Artists Public Domain |
Cast: | Mohamad Imran Tapa, Taniya Khan, Ali Mohammad Dar |
Contact: | Visit Films |
www: | www.zerobridgefilm.com |
Guests
Tariq Tapa
Film Director, Film Director / Producer