Faya Dayi [Blu-ray] [Criterion Collection]

Investigative filmmaker Jessica Beshir plunges deep into Harar, a secluded, walled community in Ethiopia's subtropical highlands, seeking traditional practitioners of the khat ritual. Raw footage unveils the significance of the khat leaf to generations of Sufi Muslims, as chewing the leaf enhances spiritual connectivity during religious meditation. Yet as the surrounding world transitions to a more globalized economy, khat plays a critical role in Ethiopia's cash crop industry, irrevocably altering the nation's relationship to khat.