



FREMONT
Director:
Babak Jalali
2023
|
91 mins
|
Awards
2023 Sundance Film Festival World
Premiere NEXT
2023 SXSW Film Festival
Official Selection
2023 San Francisco International Film Festival
Official Selection
2023 Karlovy Vary Film Festival
Winner: Best Director, Crystal Globe Competition
2023 Seattle International Film Festival
Official Selection
2023 Edinburgh International Film Festival
UK Premiere, Closing
Night Film British Independent Film Awards
Nominee: Best International Independent Film
World premiering at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival's NEXT section and winner of Best Director at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival. Features the breakout performance of newcomer Anaita Wali Zada alongside award-winning actor Jeremy Allen White (THE BEAR, 2022; THE IRON CLAW, 2023) and actor-writer-comedian Gregg Turkington (ANT-MAN, 2015). Infused with stoic optimism and captivating dry humour, FREMONT offers a poignant exploration of solitude experienced by immigrants in a foreign country.
Donya, a young Afghan who relocated to Fremont, California after serving as a translator for the American army, navigates the empty streets and barren landscapes of her new home. Working at a fortune cookie factory, she grapples with guilt from her past and struggles with self-esteem. Amidst it all, she discovers solace and connection through fortune cookies. Directed by Iranian-British filmmaker Babak Jalali and co-written with Carolina Cavalli (AMANDA, 2022), FREMONT invites viewers on a meditative journey into the heart of the American West, where the landscape itself becomes a character, echoing the characters' internal struggles and yearnings for connection.