PiraBit if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

Married Baby Just intense enough to provide a much-needed diversion, just lightweight enough to make you forget about it soon after it’s over. It’s not exactly “good,” per se, but it does what it sets out to do in terms of putting us on edge, which makes it … successful?

Ortiz Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Yazmin Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

bibimcbibi ... but very, very slow. There was so much potential, I was very disappointed with its lack of depth or pace. I'm sure it meant to reflect the stagnation of the area in which it was made, but a workable movie needs more depth of characterisation in order to succeed. It would have benefited too from the female characters being given some real roles. Cinematography was also a little unsophisticated and could have made more of the incredible vistas available. There were, however, some nice performances, especially from the actors portraying the shopkeeper and the ambitious man. It also features what must surely be the world's most stoical donkey.

aqua212 What is so wonderful about Frontier Blues, and also Babak Jalali's previous short, "Heydar: An Afghan in Tehran", is that he is showing us a view of Iran that most of us here have never been exposed to— a perspective free of politics and chaos in a part of Iran that most of us could only see in photo books. And while those photographs reveal the beauty and majesty of northern Iran, they cannot reveal the humanity that Babak is exploring in his film. There are no photos that could capture that monotony of every day life for Alam who works on a chicken farm but who is desperately in love with a girl he has never spoken to. Or Hassan, the village idiot, who's best friend is his donkey and his uncle Kazem who owns a small clothing store where nothing quite fits any one who comes in. And the minstrel who tells the audience of his wife, stolen from him by a man in a green Mercedes years ago.The people that inhabit Frontier Blues are settled but lost. They long for something better or long for what they could have had, but they continue to live and work every day. The majestic beauty of northern Iran is merely a backdrop, one that doesn't impress them anymore the way they do outsiders. They are stoic and laconic men, maybe more so than if they were not on camera, but in some ways, that is the point. Jalali is looking deeply into them, which often requires a bit of silence and focus, but what he finds is truly beautifully strange.

snoball I recently saw this film at the Edinburgh Film Festival. What a brilliant first feature!The story follows the lives of different men living in a small town in northern Iran. The stories are simple and beautiful, about love and lose, men desperately trying to make a connection and to find meaning in their monotonous everyday existence. I really loved the pacing of the film. It takes its time. It achieves humor and pathos without trying. It is the kind of film that only comes around once in a while, the kind of film that is getting harder and harder to make or released. I recommend this gem to anyone who loves the cinema of Kaurismäki or Kiarostami. Babak Jalali is certainly a great new director to watch!

Teo Chee Tat In remote Gorgan (Iran's northern border with Turkmenistan), the film tells us the story of 4 men, of whom, 3 have dreams of girls/women/marriage/reunion. It portrays a society where women fled frequently from their families for richer men, and where men feel they are the authority of their families and they are responsible for the younger ones, e.g. letting the donkey go. Here, men cling on to their dreams - keeping the donkey as a pet; ringing other people up randomly to speak to girls; choosing only one size / design per piece of clothing for his shop; learning English so as to relocate to a place with better living standards; not wishing to speak or play his musical instrument but when stirred up, vents his frustration profusely. Here, weddings and funerals seldom occur: it is uneventful. Yet, outsiders want to capture images not of how the place is really like, but of what they perceive of this place - nomadic, pastoral, rustic, etc. But they will never be able to seize that most natural and authentic side of these people.