Journey to Mecca

Basically a 45-minute educational piece, blown up to epic size for an Imax screen, and suitable for school outings. In a slightly earnest, pedagogic way, it tells the story of Ibn Buttutah, the young Muslim from Tangier who in 1325 made the traditional pilgrimage to Mecca, a spiritual journey that became a 30-year trek in search of knowledge, taking him all over the world. It mixes historic reconstruction with modern footage, and it could be a little cheesy were it not for the spectacular images of Mount Arafat covered with white-clad pilgrims, and also shots inside the sacred site of the Kaaba; some of these extraordinary aerial scenes show the pilgrims walking around the Kaaba, but speeded up, to resemble a colossal whirlpool.