1 train trip, 2 documentaries, [nearly] 3 hours each

1. Sex Traffic [2004]: recommended by my Refugee course coordinator, it's been one of the toughest films I've seen in the recent past.
The plot outline -although well and comprehensively written- couldn't possibly reveal all there is to this story:

Boston based Kernwell Industries is an American defense contractor. One of those contracts is to deploy 3,000 peacekeepers to the International Peacekeeping Coalition's work in the Balkans. Because of the near epidemic problem of sex trafficking of young Balkan women, Kernwell has decided to support the charity, Worldwide Federation Against Forced Migration. Kernwell's head of charities is Madeleine Harlsburg, the wife of the company's CEO, Tom Harlsburg. Although it does not have a pristine reputation as a good social corporate citizen, Kernwell hits a bigger public relations problem when it is learned that one of those 3,000 peacekeepers was caught trying to buy the services of a teen-aged prostitute in Sarajevo. Although not named to the media, that person is Sergeant Callum Tate, who swears he was trying to save that woman. In reality, Tate has evidence of a larger conspiracy of sex trafficking. Regardless of the truth or falsehood of accusations, some within Kernwell will do whatever they require to protect their organization's brand. Meanwhile, the Moldovan Visinescu sisters - Lena and Vara - believe they are moving to London with Vara's boyfriend Alexi to lead a better life to be able to send money back to support their mother and Lena's infant son. However, they soon learn that Alexi has instead sold them into a white slavery ring. Speak For Freedom, a London-based non-profit organization, works in many areas including monitoring sex trafficking in order to assist authorities in stopping it. Daniel Appleton, one of its employees, gets involved in trying to save the Visinescus.

[Taken from the IMDb, here.]

2. When the Road Bends: Tales of a Gypsy Caravan [2006]: a very different story, which I've nevertheless appreciated quite a bit. Though not certain who exactly recommended it to me, I recall having planned to watch it for a while now, and well, today was the day. And I was glad that it managed to [at least slightly] counterbalance the previous documentary's heavy effects.

Shot by legendary cinematographer Albert Maysles, this dynamic musical documentary follows five Gypsy bands from four countries who unite for the Gypsy Caravan as they take their show around North America for a six-week tour, astounding every audience they meet. Their musical styles range from flamenco to brass band, Romanian violin to Indian folk. And with humor and soul in their voices, they celebrate the best in Gypsy culture and the diversity of the Romani people in an explosion of song and dance.
As the film follows the amazing performances and behind-the-scenes action from the tour created by World Music Institute, we discover the real lives of these musicians. We visit Macedonia, Romania, India and Spain, meet their families and see what music brings to their lives. The tales of these characters are woven between their performances - allowing us to understand and celebrate Romani culture and the prejudice of their shared ancestry.
The "Gypsy Caravan" tour extravaganza features performances by Macedonian diva and "Queen of the Gypsies" Esma Redzepova, traditional Indian folk troupe Maharaja, Romanian Fanfare Ciocarlia, the violin wizardry of Romanian group Taraf de Haidouks and the Antonio El Pipa Flamenco Ensemble.

[as described on the IMDb, here]

On the Road

It's been really difficult to make a note of this, perhaps much more difficult than for most other recent reads; though having finished On the Road back in March, my thoughts on it have been scattered and at times contradictory, possibly related to my own varying perception over the randomness or possible meaningfulness of every day's streams of life..
It's for this reason that I'll have to redirect you to the thoughts of others.

So here's an opinion [not my own]:

When it was published in 1957, On the Road fascinated America with its seemingly aimless outcasts seeking thrills across the continent. It is the autobiographical account of Jack Kerouac's life in the late 1940s. Kerouac was recognized as the father of the Beat Generation with the publication of his novel. The Beat literary movement actually started with a small group of bohemians living in New York City during the mid-1940s. The group included Kerouac, poet Allen Ginsberg, and professional eccentric William Burroughs. The men were trying to define a "New Vision" in literature, and they discussed and criticized various works of literature and theories of writing.

... which you can keep reading here.

And here's an other:

Critics like Millstein stressed the spiritual qualities of Kerouac's novel. Millstein wrote that the "frenzied pursuit of every possible sensory impression" by the various characters in the novel are "excesses made to serve a spiritual purpose, the purpose of an affirmation still unfocused, still to be defined, unsystematic." In other words, the characters are on a quest for belief in something, anything. Ralph Gleason, in Saturday Review, touched on the search for affirmation and spiritual dimension of the novel when he denied that On the Road is a "beat" novel [...]

... and you can read this review here.