Advertisement

Movies & TV

JOURNEY OF A THOUSAND MILES: PEACEKEEPERS

JOURNEY OF A THOUSAND MILES: PEACEKEEPERS

TIFF Docs D: Geeta Ghandbir, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy. U.S./Pakistan. 95 min. Sep 11, 9:30 pm Scotiabank 13 Sep 13, 6:15 pm Scotiabank 8 Sep 20, 12:30 pm Scotiabank 13. See listing. Rating: NNN


In Dakha, Bangladesh, 160 female police offers – many of them Muslim – are seconded by the UN to undertake a peacekeeping mission in Haiti.

In the first section, it’s their families who feel uneasy about saying goodbye for a full year, and the difficulties escalate in Haiti. The women have been insufficiently trained and are poorly briefed. Their unease as they evict earthquake survivors from a refugee camp is palpable, and they’re startled to learn that the people blame UN personnel for a cholera epidemic.

The film works because the images of a full troupe of women in uniform are so startling and because the filmmakers home in on some startling intimate details. One soldier worries about leaving Bangladesh because her son is turning into a Muslim fanatic, and sequences where the women talk candidly about sex roles in the family are thought-provoking.

Advertisement

Exclusive content and events straight to your inbox

Subscribe to our Newsletter

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

By signing up, I agree to receive emails from Now Toronto and to the Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions.

Recently Posted