In the Shadow of the War

San­ti­a­go Roman, a rugged, 23-year-old sol­dier of the Peru­vian Navy, returns home to Lima after years of fight­ing in the jungle. Combat-weary and search­ing for hope, San­ti­a­go is a member of a lost Peru­vian gen­er­a­tion – his spirit scarred by futile wars with Ecuador and con­stant fight­ing against ter­ror­ists and drug traf­fick­ers. He quick­ly finds his native Lima an unwel­com­ing place – his army bud­dies have taken to bank rob­bing; the deca­dent club scene offers only noise and lights; prospec­tive employ­ers won’t hire him; his appli­ca­tions for credit are refused. But worst of all, San­ti­a­go learns that his friends, family, and young, pro­fes­sion­al wife have become deca­dent or dis­tant — and that they are, each in unique ways, unable to under­stand him. As his trou­bles con­verge in the film’s riv­et­ing climax, DIAS DE SANTIAGO asks the ques­tion, what escape for a dis­charged sol­dier, who returns home full of hope, but finds only dis­ap­point­ment and inner turmoil?

Pales­tini­ans, in the midst of the ear-split­ting noise of bull­doz­ers, defy­ing the logic of war. “I wanted to show the emer­gence of the wall, to record this his­tor­i­cal moment, when … read more

By using very simple means, Orzu Saripov accom­pa­nies Afghan refugees, who are able to escape the hail of bombs in the north of the coun­try in the direc­tion of Tajik­istan … read more

For half a cen­tu­ry now, the Lebanese singer Fairuz has been a living legend in the Arab world, from Iraq to Moroc­co. Her home is Beirut. Once this city was … read more