Half Moon

In Half Moon, Kurdish-Iranian filmmaker Bahman Ghobadi mixes the harsh reality of war-ravaged Kurdistan with unexpected flourishes of cinematic whimsy. Iraqi Kurdish musician Mamo (Ismail Ghaffari in an extraordinary performance) is given the opportunity to return to his native Kurdistan after 35 years of exile in Iran. Going on tour, Mamo not only gathers his 10 sons into a bus driven by a cockfighter enthusiast fan, but also smuggles out Hesho (Hedieh Tehrani), an aging Kurdish singer prevented from performing in exile due to Iran's ban on public singing by women. Needless to say, everything that could possibly derail the homecoming occurs here (often with a warped vengeance), as Mamo's vice-like grip on the past leaves him ill-equipped to deal with his homeland—post-Saddam Kurdistan, where corruption and brutality keep the region in a seemingly permanent state of moral and cultural decay. Although equally strange and tragic, Half Moon is also rich with strikingly surreal images, most notably during Mamo's return to a Kurdish city occupied by female singers lining the rooftops with drums (music, in fact, dominates the film). One of the most intriguing Iranian exports to arrive on DVD in the U.S., this is recommended. (P. Hall)