2013 Cannes Film Festival Predictions: Hiner Saleem’s Aga

#50. Hiner Saleem’s Aga

Gist: Starring Golshifteh Farahani (she was in his previous 2010 film, Si tu meurs, je te tue!), duel characters share the screen, Baran, a Kurdish independence war hero, is now police commissioner 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 Irak. 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.

Prediction: Un Certain Regard. Saleem took a trip to Cannes with Main Comp entry Kilometre Zero (2005) and this looks like the sort of tricky material that a politicized festival such as Cannes normally includes in their selection.