Le Grand Voyage

Cast

Nominated in this years Orange British Academy Film Awards 'Best Film Not in The English Language' category.

Synopsis

A Moroccan immigrant in France feels that his time to undertake the Hajj to Mecca has finally arrived. He enlists his adolescent son, Réda, to drive him across seven countries (Italy, Slovenia, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Turkey, and eventually Saudi Arabia).

What should be a peaceful, purposeful and solemn pilgrimage for Mustapha is an arduous and incomprehensible waste of time for his son. Along the way, the pair's stark differences and attitudes towards life and living become blisteringly apparent, and what they come to understand about one another has implications far greater than the journey itself.

Nicolas Cazalé (Le Clan) and Mohamed Majd both give outstanding performances in this beautiful and poignant film, which took home the Luigi de Laurentiis Award at the 2004 Venice Film Festival for best first film.

Reviews

"True and touching, inhabited by a duo of stupendous actors, Le Grand Voyage takes an unexpected journey and is a great film." - Rolling Stone

"...an insight into the spiritual potency and cultural purport of Islam ... both sapient and enlightening."
-Patrick Peters, Empire

"it's hard to come out of the film theatre without having been moved by such a powerful narrative ... a touching and inspiring human story with widespread appeal ... weeks after seeing the film for the first time, the immediacy of its impact on me has been transformed into an enduring fondness."
-Fuad Ali, Muslim Weekly

DVD Special features

Interview with director at BAFTA.

Technical Information
Released date	20th February 2006
Opening Venue
Opening Venue tel.
Aspect Ratio	Anamorphic Wide Screen
Main Soundtrack	Dolby Digital 5.1
Language	Arabic French
Subtitles	English
Region Code	2 (Europe, Japan, South Africa)
Disc Format	PAL
Duration	98 minutes

France/2004/Colour

Additional Information

The Mecca pilgrimage is the last of Islam's five pillars – a Muslims' fundamental duties. The four other pillars are: the profession of faith acknowledging that there are no other gods but God (Allah) and that Muhammad is God's Messenger, five daily prayers, alms and Ramadan's fast. The pilgrimage takes place every year for five days, at the beginning of the twelfth and last month of the Muslim calendar, during the Eid, the celebration around the sacrifice of a sheep.