It’s an almost unearthly place. Bombay Beach in California. Somewhere in nowhere land. A former recreation park, built around a lake that came to life after a bank dam collapsed. A story too strange to be written by screenwriters and so it is a real story.
A documentary, described as the most suprising and most ambitious in the last years, about the people who live in Bombay Beach. Directed by Alma Har’el. A former commercial filmer. Now she’s made “Bombay Beach”. One of the poorest places in California. Because the lake that once came by suprise now is completely polluted. The people who live there cannot escape. No way out of brutal heat and no future. But there then a future appears: A young boy among all the unique people in the movie.
Music by Beirut and Bob Dylan. And that for a film that brings Jack Kerouac’s America back to your mind. Fit?
The trailer and more information after the jump/below…
(Video by Alma Har’el)
Here’s what the press says:
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS “Arguably the hit of the festival, Alma Har’el’s lyrical debut was the unanimous jury choice. Many fictional films try to portray dignity in rural decay, but the authentically poetic “Bombay Beach” is the real deal.”
NY MAGAZINE “Tribeca Film Festival’s Breakout Doc Director is Alma Har’el ! Brilliant debut! Cockeyed, stylized and as poetic as it is reported. An Odd American Folk Song.”
NY TIMES “A mosaic that evokes the three ages of man in a postapocalyptic America.”
NY PRESS “Bombay Beach proves that bits of utterly unique America still exist!”
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Additional reading:
Bombay Beach Facts
Director Alma Har’el’s WordPress Blog
The movie’s official website
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