Roads to Mecca

Islam is the world's second largest and fastest growing religion; the Hajj is its greatest public rite. Last year three million Muslims from over a 125 countries made the annual pilgrimage to Mecca. For fourteen hundred years the Hajj has provided a spiritual destination to millions of men and women around the world. ROADS TO MECCA follows the Muslim and non Muslim members of an international film crew as they attempt to make the first IMAX movie ever made on the Hajj. The film interweaves IMAX footage of the 14th century pilgrimage of the great Moroccan traveler Ibn Battuta, with the filmmakers' four year struggle to film in Saudi Arabia where cinema is banned, and in Mecca where entrance for non-Muslims is strictly forbidden. As Ibn Battuta joyfully reaches Mecca and performs the Hajj, the film portrays the personal journey of several Muslim filmmakers as they too experience the Hajj for the first time. The result is an unique portrait of one of history's most enduring rites. From the deserts of Morocco to the heart of the Islamic world, ROADS TO MECCA presents some of the most spectacular images ever documented of the Hajj and reveals the ultimate meaning of its sacred rituals.