Film No. 25. FREMONT (2024). 20th April.

 

Film No. 25 (2024) April 20th.  11:00 AM  LUNA CINEMA, Cinema 1,  Leederville.

"I don't spend much time thinking; I'm too busy with my social life" (Donya  answering a question about what thoughts make her anxious about her previous life in Afghanistan, in her first session with psychiatrist, Dr Anthony).

NOMINEE: Next Innovator Award (Babak Jalali) Sundance Film Festival. WINNER: Grand Jury Prize; Narrative Feature (Babak Jalali) Independent Film Festival of Boston.

Did you love both PATERSON and NAPOLEON DYNAMITE equally, for the simplicity of unpretentious characters, truly comfortable in their own skins? If the answer is, yes, you did, then you are going to love FREMONT.

There is not a word wasted here as we fall in love with Anaita Wali Zada's, Donya, an ex Afghan translator for the U.S. army. An immigrant finding her feet in Fremont, California, working at a fortune cookie factory. See, it's an interesting premise already, don't you think? Once the dialogue takes hold and each eccentric character uses the script, shaping their enigmatic selves around the lovely Donya, you'll be smitten with FREMONT. I bloody love this film !!

The talented Carolina Cavalli (AMANDA) teams with director Babak Jalali (LAND) to create a brilliant script. They may well have transformed the humble Fortune Cookie advice to where, many of us believe, social media should settle as a means of communication in these, sometimes unsettling contemporary times.  12GUMS.