I think I’ve mentioned this before but my friend Ahlam’s husband, Musa Syeed’s Valley of Saints” premiered at Sundance this year. Check out the trailer above and this interview with Musa:

I always dreamt of making a film about my parents’ homeland, Kashmir. It was where they spent their first years as a young couple, but it was also where my father endured jail as a political prisoner. While researching the region I came across news about Dal Lake, the pristine, unique waterworld where thousands of inhabitants row themselves around island shops and villages.

I discovered that the lake was now under serious threat from pollution and overdevelopment; some predicted it could disappear entirely. I realized that it was the perfect symbol not only for Kashmir but for all human resilience: beauty surviving in the face of destruction.