Director / Writer: Bahman Ghobadi
Cast : Soran Ebrahim, Avaz Latif, Hiresh Feysal Rahman
Cinematography: Shahriah Assadi
Editing: Mostafa Kherghehpoosh, Hayedeh Safiyari
Country: Iran, France, Iraq
Language: Kurdish
Release Year: 2004
This it seems was the first film that got released in the post war Iraq by a director who belongs to the Kurdish minority, that was suppressed and shattered during Saddam’s regime.
Set amidst a war torn territory, the film explores the lives of innocent people, especially children who are exposed to the dire consequences of war and who have also started accepting it as the way they would be leading their lives. A teen boy named Satellite who is manipulative and enterprising, runs the show for the entire Kurdish flock in a refugee camp that awaits information on Saddam’s next move by way of installing satellite televisions in their camp with the aid of the boy and thus his name. He also negotiates with the minesweepers in order to offer temporary jobs to the local children for removing mines planted in the area. Meanwhile there is a one-sided affair that brews between Satellite and Agrin, who comes to the camp with a toddler and her handicapped brother. Slowly it is revealed that Agrin is a rape victim and the toddler is her child who has been born out of the unfortunate rape incident.
The deluge of emotions that gets exchanged between them is explored from opposite paradigms and emotionally connects us through virtually impatient knots with bouts of silence and expressions splattered across the narrative. The character of Agrin whose fickleness as a teen girl, her struggle to come to terms with the harshness of life and her inability to do anything about it is a good example of a perfect character sketch. Also the character of her amputated brother, whose aggression is suppressed but tends to set right her sister’s life with a more matured approach should also be appreciated!
Also we get to have a taste of the conservative Kurdish culture, their ethnicity and people up close. The actors seem to have little or no acting experience at all and the movie it seems has been shot on a shoestring budget, but nevertheless captures the essence of the humaneness that prevails amidst all the chaos.
A good watch for world movie enthusiasts!
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