01
Fire at Sea
Why this pick
Rosi’s patient, composed observation of life on Lampedusa similarly lets ordinary routines coexist with the distant yet overwhelming evidence of conflict and displacement.
A FILM WORTH A CLOSER LOOKTHE FEATURE PRESENTATION
MOVIE2020 1h 40m ITA
IF THIS ONE STAYED WITH YOU
Movies like
Nocturne
Documentary
CINEHUNCH / THE NEXT FRAME
Keep the feeling.
SIMILAR PICKS / A PERSONAL CONNECTION
If you loved Nocturne, try these.
01
02
The Cave
Why this pick
This Syrian documentary shares Nocturne’s attention to civilians enduring war, finding extraordinary resolve and intimate human connection amid an ever-present atmosphere of danger.
03
Taste of Cement
Why this pick
Poetic sound design and stark nighttime imagery follow Syrian laborers in Beirut whose work and waiting are shadowed by the war at home.
04
For Sama
Why this pick
A deeply personal Syrian record of daily life under siege, balancing tenderness, resilience, and loss while keeping its focus on the human cost behind conflict.
05
The War Show
Why this pick
An on-the-ground chronicle of Syria’s uprising that retains Nocturne’s concern for lived experience, observing how political violence reshapes friendships, homes, and ordinary hopes.
Finding the atmosphere, tension and little details that made this one stay with you.
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01 / THE STORY
A little about the film.
Shot over the course of three years between Syria, Iraq, Kurdistan, and Lebanon, Notturno follows different people from areas near war zones in the Middle East who are trying to start over again with their everyday lives. A group of female soldiers is shown standing guard, clearing empty buildings and relaxing in their barracks. A man in a small boat hunts for water fowl at night with the sound of machine gun fire in the distance. At a psychiatric hospital, a group of patients are given scripts to memorize for a play about the current state of their homeland and are shown rehearsing their parts. A boy, Ali, is paid five dollars a day to help a duck hunter. A couple admire the beauty of the night sky; the man then puts on his thob, picks up his drum, and walks the streets of the town playing the instrument and singing a song in praise of the prophet. At a school, as a form of therapy, children draw graphic pictures of the war atrocities they witnessed and describe their experiences to their teacher. One of the most cruel scenes is the one which shows a veiled Kurdish mother in the jail cell where her son had been tortured and killed. Another scene concerns a mother listening to phone messages from her daughter who has been kidnapped by Isis terrorists who are demanding a ransom.
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