Slow Lightning

Released last year in Canada, Mark Frutkin's Slow Lightning follows Sandro, an apolitical Spanish engineering student caught up in the Spanish Civil War. When his name appears on a police list, he's forced to flee Barcelona on a bicycle, leaving behind a beautiful anarchist as he follows a pilgrimage route to his seaside village. He encounters numerous characters along the way some, like the priest who gives Sandro his robes to wear, want to help him; others want to kill him. Frutkin (Atmospheres Apollinaire) provides relief from the madness and violence with gentle humor and touches of magic realism, making his reluctant hero's journey all the more memorable.