My Sweet Pepper Land (2013)

Baran, a Kurdish independence war hero, is now sheriff in Erbil, the capital city. No longer feeling useful in this society now at peace, he thinks about quitting the police force, but ... See full summary »

Director:

Hiner Saleem

Writers:

Hiner Saleem (scenario & dialogue), Antoine Lacomblez (collaboration)

Stars:

Korkmaz Arslan, Golshifteh Farahani, Suat Usta

5 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Korkmaz Arslan	...	Baran
Golshifteh Farahani	...	Govend
Suat Usta	...	Reber
Mir Murad Bedirxan	...	Tajdin
Feyyaz Duman	...	Jaffar Mohammed Emin
Tarik Akreyî	...	Aziz Aga
Véronique Wüthrich	...	Nîroj
Mizgin Gemo	...	Zirek
Kamiran Betasi	...	The Judge
Adil Abdolrahman	...	The Commisionner (as Adil Abdulrahman)
Bahman Haci	...	Sadu (as Bahman Haji)
Nezar Selami	...	The Commisionner (as Nizar Salami)
Sivan Salim	...	Govend's Father (as Shivan Salim)
Yilmaz Özdil	...	The Hanged Man (as Yilmaz Ozdil)
Hiner Saleem	...	The Photographer

Storyline

Baran, a Kurdish independence war hero, is now sheriff in Erbil, the capital city. No longer feeling useful in this society now at peace, he thinks about quitting the police force, but instead agrees to be stationed in a small valley, at the very borders of Iran, Turkey, and Iraq. It is a lawless territory, right at the heart of illegal drug, medication and alcohol trafficking. Having arrived in the small village, he refuses to bow down to Aga Azzi, the seriously corrupt tribal chief and absolute ruler of the area. Baran meets Govend, the village school teacher, who is also rejected by the villagers. Like Baran, she represents another law, that of the young and autonomous Kurdish state. Govend is all the more vulnerable as she is not a married woman.

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Plot Keywords:

tribal chief | school teacher | school | teacher | police | 

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Taglines:

A Kurdish western!

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

Iraq France Germany

Language:

Kurdish Arabic Turkish

Release Date:

27 March 2014 (Germany)

Also Known As:

Aga

Filming Locations:

Kurdistan, Iraq

Box Office

Budget:

€2,600,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Agat Films & Cie, Rohfilm, HS Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Award : Prix de la Jeunesse au Festival du Film Romantique de Cabourg 2013.

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Goofs

[All goofs for this title are spoilers.]

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Quotes

Baran: You're too brave to accept this.
Govend: No one wanted this village. And the children here, they needed education. I like it here. I like the children.
Baran: No one forced you.
Govend: No. I always wanted to study till I was 26. And now, I feel too old for here.
Baran: How old are you?
Govend: 28. But I got one thing. If you're not married at this age, people think there's something wrong with you.

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Soundtracks

Baby I Don't Care (You're So Square)
Written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller
Performed by Elvis Presley
(1957).

User Reviews

Spaghetti in Iraq

What's the Kurdish word for 'spaghetti?' "My Sweet Pepper Land" is a classic Spaghetti Western set in a remote corner of Iraqi Kurdistan. Upright stalwart hero, distressed damsel, band of lawless ruffians to be dispatched, and, as an interesting twist, a group of well armed feminist freedom fighters who don't like anybody very much. It's a culturally interesting story, flawed by several gratuitous episodes of cruelty to animals being passed off as entertainment-- kind of wrecked the film for us. The high point was the female lead, Golshifteh Farhani (as Govend) playing a melodious Kurdish-6 pan drum. Along with the other music, that made for a much better than average soundtrack.

Although classed as a Comedy (it has its moments) at the 2014 Palm Springs International Film Festival, it isn't.