by Babak Jalali
Can I be happy and fall in love while the people in my homeland suffer? Afghan Donya has lived in Fremont for eight months, working at a fortune cookie factory in Chinatown. However, the extent to which this fortune spills over into her own life is limited: Her newfound freedom is overshadowed by remorse after returning from an assignment in Kabul as an interpreter for the American forces. With FREMONT, Babak Jalali creates an aesthetic and profound black-and-white film that accompanies a young refugee as she comes to terms with what she has experienced and searches for her own happiness.