This is a bold and accomplished first feature film by Tariq Tapa, an American of Kashmiri descent.
The film is set entirely in Srinagar, Kashmir and follows the story of a teenage pickpocket, Dilawar, who dreams of someday escaping the slum he's grown up in. His dreams of escape become more real when he befriends a pretty shipping clerk, Bani, who also has plans to leave her abusive, overbearing family.
Shot in a neorealist style, Tapa doesn't romanticize life in the slums of war-torn Kashmir. The film is shot in an intimate, documentary style and the drama unfolds at a nice realistic, uncontrived page. Featuring a cast of non-professional actors and almost all crew work performed by Tapa himself, Zero Bridge is a remarkable debut.
Read my full review at Bad Lit: The Journal of Underground Film.