Valley of Saints

This compelling human drama is situated in Srinagar, at the Dal Lake in conflict-ridden Kashmir. The young boatman Gulzar (played by a real boatman) tries to escape the violence in Kashmir, but is caught because of a military curfew and must return to the lake.
Plotting his next attempt at leaving, Gulzar and his friend Afzal meet a young woman scientist (played by a local TV actress) who is investigating the extreme pollution in the lake, on which the community depends. In their reaction to the violence and environmental degradation they find a common ground. They become close and develop a relationship.
Focusing respectively on the human aspect, the love story, the environment and the ordeal of the Kashmiri people, who have been living for decades in a politically turbulent zone, this lyrical film successfully and excitingly merges documentary and fiction.