Moroccan film 'The Narrow Frame of Midnight' is helmed by Tala Hadid whose directorial credits include a full length documentary film "Scared Poet" on maverick Italian director Pier Paolo Pasolini. For this film, she chose to chart the journey of several characters who struggle to find their place in the world; in search of the living and the dead, of the others and of themselves. Although their destinies eventually diverge, they are connected in profound ways. For a story about the kidnapping of a small girl child by a petty criminal the pace of this film is rather slow. A state of 'non belonging' quasi synonymous with 'no man's land' is created when these two vulnerable souls are joined by a resolutely stubborn writer who has left everything behind in order to embark on a mission to search for his missing brother. There is a key focus on one of 21st century's biggest 'human' problems-displacement of people due to various reasons. The fields and planes of Istanbul, Kurdistan and Morocco paint a grim reminder of the pathetic conditions of exiles, migrants, nomads and refugees. The concept of the film is absolutely unique to a large extent that its making has come to be regarded as the breath of fresh air. Despite these nice qualities, this film suffers to a huge extent as its execution is bad. One key aspect of the film is that it manages to create a certain kind of suspense.
