
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 trib... (Full plot summary below)
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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.
Leave your thoughts about My Sweet Pepper Land.
| Minneapolis Star TribuneTim CampbellThe film's outcome may be predictable, and its framework decidedly retro, but the themes are anything but, including a healthy dose of feminism. |
| The Popcorn JunkieCameron WilliamsA solid foreign twist on gunslingers and damsels in distress |
| Film.comJordan HoffmanAn interesting blend of classic cinema tropes set in the extremely specific (and rarely discussed) liberated Kurdistan. |
| Concrete PlaygroundTom CliftDirector Hiner Saleem takes the trappings of an old-school American Western, and infuses them with a distinctively Kurdish feel. |
| The Age (Australia)Philippa HawkerOne of the notable achievements Saleem's quietly surprising film is a combination of off-beat comedy and a strong sense of menace and danger. |
| The AustralianDavid StrattonIf you get right down to it Baran represents the new sheriff attempting to bring law and order to an unruly and violent town while dallying with the local schoolmistress. The result is a film of great cultural interest plus suspense and humour. |
| 3AWJim SchembriAs well as being another contemporary example of gutsy, engrossing drama coming from foreign filmmakers, it is also telling that we have to look to foreign language films such as this and Wadjda for female characters worth a damn. |
| Montreal GazetteT'Cha DunlevyAn amusing, touching and subtly transportive film set in a place you'll probably never get to visit. |
| Film-Forward.comKent TurnerThe lead actors have chemistry, and with Baran's hazel eyes and Govend's high cheek bones, what else do you need? |
| Sydney Morning HeraldSandra HallAdmittedly, the denouement is slightly off the pace and it all fades to an anticlimax, but wide blue skies, craggy bluffs and sure-footed mountain ponies are all put to good use. |