Half Moon

A moving and beautiful new film from Kurdish director Bahman Ghobadi (A Time for Drunken Horses, Turtles Can Fly). Mamo, an iconic Kurdish musician in the twilight of his life and failing health, and he must lead a dozen of his sons to Iraq for a concert, "a cry of freedom," to celebrate the fall of Saddam Hussein and the end of his repression of Kurdish music. Their plan is to drive across the border between Iranian and Iraqi Kurdistan, but the road will be long and winding plus the local wise man has predicted calamity. But first they must pick up Hesho, Mamo's exiled singer and muse. The "celestial voice" she represents takes on a divine, transformative power, and Mamo is left in a state of grace no one could ever have anticipated. 2008.