In the country of our brothers: a first virtuoso feature (critic)
A three -step fresco on different Afghan refugees in Iran faced with impossible situations. A tour de force.
Surning 2024 staging prize and Grand Prix of the Saint-Jean-de Luz festival, In the country of our brothers is an Iranian film that differs from the usual productions of this country that we are used to seeing in France. Since he rarely addressed a subject: the five million Afghans who came to take refuge in Iran that they nicknamed the “land of their brothers”, at the origin of his title. And his two directors Raha Amirfazli and Alireza Ghasemi employ themselves in the manner of a fresco built in three parts, telling three different times of the members of the same family, in the extended sense of the term.
First 2001 where Mohammad, a promising young student, is put under pressure by a police officer who makes him understand that he incurred serious problems if he does not sleep with him. Then in 2010 where Leila, the young woman whom Mohammad loved but could not marry because of an arranged marriage is, she, confronted with the sudden death of her husband who risks making her lose the place of guardians of the property of a wealthy couple that they both occupied. And finally in 2021 where Qasem, Leïla’s brother, learned terrible news about her son and knows how to announce him to his wife.
A film as good as it tells, over these characters with Kafkai situations at the end of the almost impossible end, the fragility of the situation of the refugee. And this without ever showing demonstrative, in just 1.5 hours incredibly intense and fluid where the Amirflazi-Ghasemi duo adapts their staging to each of the segments while retaining continuity. A tour de force.
By Raha Amirfazli and Alireza Ghasemi. With Hamid Jafari, Bashir Nikzad, Mohammad Hosseini… Duration: 1h35. Released April 2, 2025
