Synopsis:
Sons of Haji Omar David Newman, Canada, 1978, 58’ The film documents the life of a tribal family in northeastern Afghanistan. Here we discover a world where people compete for social prestige, make their own clothes, fix cracked pots, load their possessions on the back of their camels, cross rivers with their caravans, and tell exaggerated stories while slowly moving through seasons. Haji Omar, a tribal chief, is a wealthy man, has 6 wives and three sons, but is concerned about their future which he thinks is intimately bond to education. His hope resides in his youngest son who he sent to school to prepare him for the western society. There is no direct clash between the nomad life and the modern life, nonetheless there is a feeling of inevitable change. The film ends with the Buzkashi games, Afghanistan's national sport, where horsemen ride and fight for a headless goat. This is a powerful, brave and dangerous competition where pride is the last most significant value of the traditional world.