The place is Guchi in the northwest part of India near the Pakistan border. Sonu is a mischievous boy whose father carries freight with a camel. He prefers hanging out in the clearing in the village to going to school. One day Sonu goes out to feed the three camels with his sister Rakami. With his attention briefly diverted, the camels all disappear. Sonu hurriedly sets out to find the camels and unintentionally crosses the border into Pakistan. Fortunately he meets a very kind Pakistani family and tells them his problem. The Pakistanis send him back safely and promise to find the camels and send them back home, too. Sonu finally returns home safely, but father has a fit when he finds he’s lost his livelihood. The Pakistani family tries to send the camels back, but the border guards block them, saying the camels can’t pass through customs without the proper documents. The Blind Camel was the Gold Prize winner of the Golden Elephant International Children’s Film Festival held at Hyderabad, India, and was also invited to Berlin, Toronto, and Poland International film festivals among others. This is not a typical Masala film, though still featuring musical elements, with the song and dance unique to Indian films - including the opening sequence. It’s not just for fun. Young Sonu sings a song titled “The world is one big mess’ while dangling upside down. There are plenty of subtle criticisms targeting the absurd situations of Pakistan and India stuck in incessant border conflicts, and divided by religious differences. The original Indian title, “Heda Hoda” (meaning “Here There”), also underlines this consciousness. The film deals with this weighty theme with light touch and comic situations befitting a children's film. Men can’t cross over the border, but camels can, whenever they want. This ironic situation reminds us of our own divided country. We can only nod in agreement when the director says “Making a good film for children is just like making good milk.” (WOO Seung-hyun)