Half Moon

2006

Iran

107 mts

Mamo, an old and legendary Kurdish musician living in Iran, plans to give one final concert in Iraqi Kurdistan. After seven months of trying to get a permit and rounding up his ten sons, he sets out for the long and troublesome journey in a derelict bus, denying a recurring vision of his own death at half moon. Halfway the party halts at a small village to pick up female singer Hesho, which will only add to the difficulty of the undertaking, as it is forbidden for Iranian women to sing in public, let alone in the company of men. But Mamo is determined to carry through, if not for the gullible antics of the bus driver.

Director:

Bahman Ghobadi

Born in 1969 in the province of Iranian Kurdistan, near the Iran-Irak border, Ghobadi’s first feature film was "A Time for Drunken Horses" (2000), the first Kurd film in the history of Iran. This film, “Turtles Can Fly” 2004), “Marooned in Iraq” (2002) and all the others made by Ghobadi were hits in the festival circuit, garnered dozens of awards but were little seen or not seen at all in his native country. His last movie to date, filmed without official permit, rapidly and feverishly, "No One Knows About Persian Cats " (2009) is a remarkable semi-documentary about underground music in Tehran.