Srinagar, Sept. 19 -- By Syed Sammar MehdiKashmiri cinema has often looked outward, toward landscapes, customs, conflict, folklore and social life. Ali Emran's Yaqza: The Awakening proposes a different direction.

Its gaze turns inward, toward the places where memory, perception, consciousness and spirituality meet.

That decision makes Yaqza unusual even before it reaches theatres in October. Described as the first experimental Kashmiri feature film, it places a difficult question at the centre of its design: can cinema represent the subconscious?

The question gives the film its intellectual force. It also sets a demanding task for Emran, who has written and directed the film.

A conventional story gives viewers characters, events and e...