Kashmir: Journey to Freedom

Once described by Mahatma Gandhi as “a pillar of light in a subcontinent lost in darkness,” Kashmir has become a land of terror and despair, its people suffering under the strain of constant violence and human rights violations. This film tells the story of a new generation of young Muslim Kashmiris who, after years of armed resistance, decided to lay down their arms and start a nonviolent resistance movement in the hope of finally achieving peace and independence. They strive for a renaissance of the Kashmiri tradition of religious and ethnic coexistence, inspired by Sufi culture and the spirit and history of Kashmir. In a rare look at the region, Udi Aloni filmed his protagonists as they launched their new struggle. Finally refused re-entry by the Indian government, Aloni was forced to tell the rest of this story far from the land and people he had come to admire creation, a feast for the senses which capable of restoring our faith in the human spirit.