This week, I bring to you an early, special edition of Hidden Treasures, one dedicated to three films that came to my attention by way of a fabulous organization known as Film Movement. Some of you may have heard of it, but for those who haven’t, Film Movement (located online at http://www.filmmovement.com) is a DVD-of-the-month club, one that caters to film enthusiasts, and not to the major studios.
Taken from their web site, the following is Film Movement’s Mission Statement:
“Film choices are dictated to us by a smaller and smaller group of major studios, which decide to release films based mostly on the stars in the cast and marketability. Many small but deserving films get squeezed out of theaters by Hollywood blockbusters and face skyrocketing marketing costs that make it daunting — if not impossible — to reach appreciative audiences. We created Film Movement because the system of releasing independent, foreign and documentary films needed to be changed. We believed that the only way to change the system was to reach out to film fans directly. Through our first of its kind DVD club our goal is to make these films more accessible. By supporting Film Movement, you are directly supporting independent and foreign film. We hope that you will join our movement of movie lovers”.
I was fortunate enough to have been a member of Film Movement for the first 3 ½ years of it’s existence. As a member, I received a new DVD every month, each one a film that had been lauded at a variety of festivals, but which never saw the light of day beyond them. Thankfully, both Netflix and Blockbuster now offer the movies of Film Movement as on-line rentals, which gives me a chance to present to you three great titles you may never have heard of, but which you will almost certainly enjoy. I’ve also added a short ‘trailer’ for Film Movement at the bottom, which pretty much sums up what this great organization is all about (Note: Unfortunately, Film Movement subscriptions are currently available only to those residing in the U.S., however a large portion of their catalog is available for on-line rental).
Ali Zaoua (2000)
Through the years, many films have centered on the dreams of children, but Ali Zaoua, a Moroccan film directed by Nabil Ayouch, takes a singularly unique approach to this subject. The children at the center of Ali Zaoua are alone, abandoned by their families, and suffering a sad, poverty-stricken existence on the streets of Casablanca. For them, an active imagination is not so much a luxury as it is a means of survival. Ali Zaoua (Abdelhak Zhayra) is one such child, who dreams of traveling across the sea to live on a tropical island, one where two suns are always in the sky to keep him warm. Unfortunately, fate intervenes. As Ali and his three friends, Kwita (Mounim Kbab), Omar (Mustapha Hansali) and Boubker (Hicham Moussoune), waste away the hours playing at an empty construction site, a gang of kids confronts them. One of these kids throws a rock, striking Ali in the head and knocking him unconscious, leaving Kwita, Omar and Boubkar to care for their wounded companion. As he’s being dragged through the streets on a makeshift stretcher, Ali dies, and his three friends agree that Ali deserves a first-class funeral. Each will do what he can to raise money to give their friend a burial at sea, certainly a fitting burial for a ‘prince’ like Ali. As constructed by director Ayouch, Ali Zaoua is a fascinating cross between drama and documentary. The children who star in this film are not actors, but actual Casablancan street kids, and their performances are nothing short of amazing. Ayouch shows a great compassion for the plight of these children, with a tone that is always observant, and never strained or artificial. These kids, forgotten by their families, suffer through life’s pitfalls on a daily basis, and the only thing that gets them through it all is their dreams, their hopes for a better tomorrow. Ali Zaoua is a film you won’t soon forget; an account of the exuberance of youth played out on a stage decorated with society’s most abhorrent contempt.
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MONDAY:
THURSDAY:
Garden State
The Flower of Evil
FRIDAY:
The story follows four friends in their final few years at college and the camaraderie and life lessons that come with it. Whether one wants to learn from those lessons is a lesson in and of itself and part of the fun. We follow the four friends through tumultuous relationships, binge drinking, road trips, restaurant conversations, push-over landlords and even something as simple as being late for class or borrowing your friend’s car keys. Each of these experiences can be a mini-adventure of its own. And in the case of 
