Kids on the Silk Road: Life Is a Beach

This short portrait follows 11-year-old Javed and his best friend Shahidul in Bangladesh as they scour the long beach of Cox’s Bazar for ways to earn a living. They give massages, sell shells, sing songs and do whatever else they can to please the beachgoers.

Meanwhile, Javed dreams of becoming a professional surfer. He hasn’t gone to school for years because he has to earn money for his family. What’s more, school wasn’t his thing: “I hate it when people try to control me. I love to decide my own time.” But then his surfing instructor Sifat, who set up a surf club for the local youth on Cox’s Bazar, tells him that he has to go back to school if he wants to keep getting surf lessons.The film is part of a series about children and their life challenges, which was filmed in five countries along the Silk Road.