My Sweet Pepper Land (Hiner Saleem, 2013): France

Reviewed by Robin Kadir at Santa Barbara International Film Festival 2014

Saddam Hussein has just fallen and it’s time for peace. A Kurdish independence war hero named Baran (Korkmaz Arslan) works as a police chief in Erbil, the capital city. After seeing a terrible hanging of a man he decides to quit, but instead he agrees to be stationed as a sheriff in a small valley at the borders of Iran, Turkey and Iraq. He finds himself in the middle of illegal drug, medication and alcohol trafficking. The corrupt tribal chief of the area, Aga Azzi (Tarik Akreyi), don’t share Baran’s thoughts and values but Baran refuses to back down. Aga Azzi and his men are smuggling alcohol into Iran and arms into Iraq and they control the traffic of alcohol, arms and black market goods in the hills. They have eliminated all the previous police chiefs who got in their way, but Baran refuses to give up without a fight and insists that he will uphold the law. Baren meets Govend (Golshifteh Farahani), a young woman working as a teacher who is also rejected by the villages just as Baran. This ends with a romance which not their mutual enemy Aga Azzi accepts. Together with Govend, Baran fights for what he thinks is right, even if it’s mean he has to sacrifice his own life.

The director Hiner Saleem does a great job describing the situation for the Kurdish women under the war. It’s a great line between drama and laughter. To lighten up the seriousness, Saleem uses joyful music, jokes and laughter but without forgetting about the young women who fight for their freedom. The film takes place in a beautiful environment with mountains and breathtaking hills and dales. But at the same time, it’s a hard environment to live in with weapons, drugs and poorness. The film is mostly dominated by men but there are some strong women fighting for their rights.

I enjoyed watching this movie since I am Kurdish myself. At first, I didn’t really get where the film was going but when I understood the main point, I enjoyed everything about it. The acting felt real and it was inspiring and touching and you felt like you also want to make a change in this world. I think that this film was more raw then American films in term of sexuality and violence. I recommend this film to teenagers my age who wants to see what’s really going on in this world.