Life goes on in a small village in civil-war-ridden Kashmir, India where bullet trains pass through forests blooming with flowers. Aasia, a Muslim woman, lives with her 11-year old daughter and mother-in-law since her husband went missing 7-years ago after the Indian army took him away. She attempts to register her husband as dead, but a corrupt government official keeps turning down her request, blatantly making demands instead. Praveen Morchhale’s realistic camerawork, long-takes, and use of non-professional actors, captures the lives occupying the landscapes and spaces of Kashmir. Each scene unfolds as characters enter and intersect with each other in spaces where the camera has already been waiting. Likewise, the camera lingers long after the characters have left the space, embracing the roles of characters and space in the film. It seems as though the film is claiming that life goes on regardless, but at the same time, it visually represents the oppressive conditions the protagonist is placed in through melodramatic mise-en-scene leading us to see the point of fissure as the film reaches its catastrophic ending. (Hong Soin)