All weekend I should have been watching Makhmalbaf films, instead a cruel migraine cut short my plans. So all I saw was Mohsen Makhmalbaf's 'The Afghan Alphabet' and 'Gabbeh'. The first reminded me why his documentaries work so well – the wry humour! Full of little sequences where just head nods and pauses would evoke peals of laughter from the audience. Looking at Afghani refugees in Iran who cannot attend schools because they don't have valid ID cards, and end up at 'religious schools' instead, Makhmalbaf asks the little boys 'Who is God?' 'Where is he?' and other seemingly simple questions where he makes his point without any sententious voice over.
Gabbeh was surreal; traditional fabric woven by a nomadic people emerged and disappeared into Nature as a simple folk tale is told - even the landscape seemed Dali-esque, all disproportionate, bulging landscapes and dream-like sequences.
PS: The migraine-films is why I couldn't be at the Blogger's meet :(
