Martin Scorsese's World Cinema Project No. 5
Criterion Collection, 3 Blu-rays

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The decade and a half leading to Algeria's war for independence is seen through a peasant farmer's eyes in Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina's Chronicle of the Years of Fire (1975). A nomadic magician who literally enchants the children of a small Indian village will have a stunning impact on one particular youngster in Govindan Aravindan's Kummatty (1979). A rejected suitor's choice to leave life in rural Burkina Faso behind for the big city will have consequences in Idrissa Ouédraogo's Yam Daabo (1986). A 13th century Khwarazmian scout's efforts to warn of an imminent invasion by Genghis Khan get tragically rebuffed in Kazakh director Ardak Amirkulov's The Fall of Otrar (1991). 8 1/4 hrs. Total on three discs.