Paths Of The Soul(HKAFF 2016)

Chinese director Zhang Yang (Shower) blends reality and fiction in one of the most extraordinary road movies in recent memory. Zhang and his crew followed a group of 11 Tibetan villagers for seven months as they take a 1,200-kilometer pilgrimage to Lhasa, during which the trekkers must bow and lay their bodies on the ground every few steps. Without a traditional script, Zhang shaped the film’s story on the road, filming both the actual pilgrimage rituals and scripted scenes with a cast of non-professionals, with the stunning Tibetan landscape as their backdrop. The result is an astonishing work about faith, survival and camaraderie.