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<\/p>\nFremont is the fourth feature from Iranian born filmmaker Babak Jalali. This low-budget, low-key indie drama follows Donya (played by newcomer Anaita Wali Zada), an Afghan refugee who has relocated to the town of Fremont in California.<\/p>\n
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She used to work as a translator for the US military in Afghanistan before the withdrawal of troops. She lives alone in an apartment in a block inhabited by fellow Afghani refugees but she is looking for a deeper connection. Every day she commutes to San Francisco where she works in a fortune cookie factory. Her compassionate boss Ricky (Eddie Tang) says that fortune cookie messages \u201cshouldn\u2019t be too lucky, they shouldn\u2019t be too unlucky\u201d and this serves as a metaphor for Donya\u2019s life. Ricky seems to take Donya under his wing and gives her a more optimistic outlook. When his main fortune writer dies unexpectedly Ricky promotes Donya to the task. His wife Lin (Jennifer McKay) however seems to resent her.<\/p>\n
Donya is worried about her family, whom she has had to leave behind in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. She has trouble sleeping and begins to regularly see psychiatrist Dr Anthony (played by Australian comic and actor Gregg Turkington, who is better known as Neil Hamburger) who is trying to help her adjust to life in her new environment. He also prescribes sleep medication for her.<\/p>\n
Donya\u2019s life is a pretty solitary one until a road trip brings her to a small town where a brief meeting with Daniel (Jeremy Allen White, from The Iron Claw<\/a>), a lonely mechanic, holds out hope for a brighter future and the possibility of romance.<\/p>\n Written by Jalali and Carolina Cavalli this gentle film explores themes of loneliness, the refugee experience, survivor\u2019s guilt, the need for a connection and purpose. Jalali\u2019s direction is relaxed, and he adopts an amiable, observational style that seems natural and unforced, and his approach suits the material.<\/p>\n Fremont has been shot in moody black and white by cinematographer Laura Vallado (Homebody). Her use of the boxy Academy ratio lends the material a more intimate feel. The droll humour and the dry, deadpan delivery of the dialogue is reminiscent of the style of Jim Jarmusch and Finnish filmmaker Aki Kaurismaki; two directors Jalali admires.<\/p>\n