Fremont
Guests Expected
Babak Jalali
Description
A former translator for the US military, Donya (Anaita Wali Zada) now lives among the Afghan diaspora who call the eponymous Bay Area suburb home and makes a living writing fortune cookie epigrams in Babak Jalali’s (Radio Dreams, Festival 2015) wry, character-driven drama. Faced with hostility from neighbors who regard her as a traitor and plagued by insomnia, Donya struggles in her new homeland but she’s game for exploration, even agreeing to a blind date in far-off Bakersfield. Newcomer Zada is pitch-perfect and receives excellent support from Gregg Turkington as a Jack London-obsessed psychiatrist and Jeremy Allen White (Shameless, The Bear) as a sweet-natured mechanic. Shot in luminous black and white, Fremont presents a delightfully droll slice of one woman’s life.
Iranian-British filmmaker Babak Jalali received a BAFTA nomination for Best Short Film for Heydar, an Afghan in Tehran (2006). He made his feature debut with Frontier Blues (Festival 2009), which won the Festival’s FIPRESCI Prize. His subsequent films include Radio Dreams (Festival 2015) and Land (2018). Fremont is the recipient of an SFFILM Rainin Grant.
Film Details
LanguageEnglish, Dari, Cantonese
Year2023
PremiereCalifornia
Runtime91
CountryUSA
DirectorBabak Jalali
ProducerMarjaneh Moghimi, Sudnya Shroff, Rachael Fung, George Rush, Laura Wagner, Chris Martin
Executive ProducerLata Krishnan, Neda Nobari, Nickhil Jakatdar, Akash Nigam,
WriterCarolina Cavalli, Babak Jalali
EditorBabak Jalali
CinematographerLaura Valladao
MusicMahmood Schricker
CastAnaita Wali Zada, Jeremy Allen White, Gregg Turkington
Closed CaptionsYes, closed captions are available for this screening. Please let us know if you would like a device when purchasing your ticket or by emailing ADA@SFFilm.org.
Audio DescriptionAudio Descriptions are not currently confirmed and will be updated soon.
American Sign Language (ASL) InterpretationAmerican Sign Language Interpretation is not currently confirmed and will be updated. For any questions about accessibility at SFFILM Events, please email ADA@SFFilm.org.
