Filmmakers Julia Morrison and James E. Duff call New York City home, but were living in Prague when they made their film Hank and Asha. In it, a girl named Asha, who is studying abroad in Prague for a year, and a boy named Hank, a filmmaker and lonely new transplant to New York City, develop a video correspondence-based friendship. They hope the film inspires audiences to travel to both locales, but in the meantime, in the spirit of cinematic armchair travel, here are five of their favorite travel films:
still from Hank and Asha
A Room With A View (England and Florence) - Based on the E. M. Forster novel, this favorite Merchant Ivory movie follows a group of Brits on holiday in Italy, turn of the century style. Scenes of Florence (Santa Croce, Piazza della Signoria), the Florentine countryside, and a romantic travel encounter with a handsome stranger add to the appeal. Apparently people were already complaining about tourist throngs in Florence in 1908, but that’s not stopping us. 1985, Directed by James Ivory
Baraka (Worldwide) – A non-narrative documentary shot in 24 countries, the film is a spectacularly cinematic world tour. It engages all the senses – it places you in the center of each country, and each shot tells a story. 1992, Directed by Ron Fricke
Buena Vista Social Club (Cuba) - In this inspiring documentary with an irresistible sound track, record producer Ry Cooder travels to Cuba to record an album with legendary (and forgotten) Cuban musicians. As a backdrop to the music, the crumbling architecture of Havana creates a dreamy, impressionistic, pastel time capsule. 1999, Directed by Wim Wenders
The Loneliest Planet (Georgia) – An adventuresome and appealing young couple (Gael Garcia Bernal and Hani Furstenburg) hire a guide to take them trekking in the Caucasus Mountains in Georgia – a landscape that is as breathtaking as it is forbidding. After hours (and many minutes of screen time) of hiking, one small incident sets the characters on a different emotional course. Try seeing this film and not adding Georgia to your bucket list. 2011, Directed by Julia Loktev
Lost In Translation (Tokyo) – Sleep deprived and disoriented, brooding Charlotte (Scarlett Johannson) and washed up movie star Bob (Bill Murray) meet in a bar in a towering Tokyo hotel. As they tentatively explore friendship, they experience Tokyo in all it’s neon, pachinko parlor, shabu shabu splendor. Karaoke, anyone? 2003, Directed by Sofia Coppola
Other travel inspiring films we also love: Funny Face (Paris), In the Mood For Love (Hong Kong), Before Sunrise (Vienna), L’Auberge Espagnole (Barcelona), The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert (Australia)
Hank and Asha was an Official Selection of the IndieMemphis Film Festival, and the Audience Award Winner for Best Narrative Feature at the Slamdance, Berkshire, Bend, and RiverRun Film Festivals, among many other awards and it's screening at the Brooks Sunday, June 22 at 2 pm. For tickets visit brooksmuseum.org/buytickets
For more information: www.hankandasha.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/hankandasha
Twitter: @HankandAsha