Daily Movie Rec 7/21/2023

Faya Dayi (2021)

"Everyone chews to get away. Their flesh is here, but their soul is gone."

Directed and filmed by: Jessica Beshir

Country: Ethiopia/United States/Qatar

Genre: Documentary

Plot:

A dreamlike documentary exploring the khat trade in Ethiopia, the effect the drug has on users, and the region's political turmoil.

Reasons to watch:

Jessica Beshir's feature debut is overwhelmingly poetic and, at times, unbearably heartbreaking. Her mesmerizing slow-cinema impressionism and the profoundly lyrical atmosphere it evokes concocts a thick, sticky spiritual molasses that traps viewers in the same inescapable limbo as the oppressed laborers and khat addicts that serve as the documentary's subjects. A haunting portrait of those unable to undo the past and without the resources to move forward without putting their lives at risk - the tragic margins of the human condition where choice and safety are void, the crushing realm where one's life isn't theirs to live. As deeply sobering as it is ethereal, Faya Dayi is one of this century's most artistically sublime and meaningful documentaries. Jessica Beshir is a name that should be on every cinephile's radar.

Where to watch:

The Criterion Channel