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Fremont

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Overview

Each morning Donya (Anaita Wali Zada) leaves her tight-knit community of Afghan immigrants in Fremont, California. She crosses the Bay to work at a family-run fortune cookie factory in San Francisco. Donya drifts through her routine, struggling to connect with the culture and people of her new, unfamiliar surroundings while processing complicated feelings about her past as a translator for the U.S. government in Afghanistan. Unable to sleep, she finagles her way into a regular slot with a therapist (Gregg Turkington) who grasps for prospective role models. When an unexpected promotion at work thrusts Donya into the position to write her own story, she communicates her loneliness and longing through a concise medium: the fortunes inside each cookie. Donya’s koans travel, making a humble social impact and expanding her world far beyond Fremont and her turbulent past, including an encounter with a quiet auto mechanic (Jeremy Allen White) who could stand to see his own world expanded. Tenderly sculpted and lyrically shot in black-and-white, Babak Jalali’s FREMONT is a wry, deadpan vision of the universal longing for home.

Reactions, Awards & Festivals

“A drama with a spare, wry tone that belies its earnest and ample substance.”

Richard Brody

The New Yorker

“The potency of “Fremont” sneaks up on you. You go in reluctant and even skeptical, and come out wondering how and why you’re moved to tears.”

Tomris Laffly

Variety

“sometimes it only takes one person who speaks your language for a foreign place to feel like a new kind of home”

David Ehrlich

IndieWire

Winner

Grand Jury Prize for Narrative Feature

Independent Film Festival Boston 2023

Winner

Best Director

Karlovy Vary International Film Festival 2023

Nominee

NEXT Innovator Award

Sundance 2023

Nominee

Audience Award

SXSW 2023

Cast & Crew
  • Donya : Anaita Wali Zada
  • Joanna : Hilda Schmelling
  • Fan : Avis See-tho
  • Salim : Siddique Ahmed
  • Mina : Taban Ibraz
  • Suleyman : Timur Nusratty
  • Ricky : Eddie Tang
  • Lin : Jennifer McKay
  • Amaya : Divya Jakatdar
  • Dr. Anthony : Gregg Turkington
  • Aziz : Fazil Seddiqui
  • Molly : Molly Noble
  • Daniel : Jeremy Allen White
  • Jason : Enoch Ku
  • Writers : Carolina Cavalli & Babak Jalali
  • Director : Babak Jalali
  • Producers : Marjaneh Moghimi, p.g.a.; Sudnya Shroff, p.g.a.; Rachael Fung, p.g.a.; George Rush; Chris Martin; Laura Wagner
  • Executive Producers : Lata Krishnan, Neda Nobari, Nickhil Jakatdar, Akash Nigam
  • Associate Producers : Peter McClellan, Valerie Bush
  • Director of Photography : Laura Valladao
  • First Assistant Director : Elaine Gibson
  • Production Designer : Rob Riutta
  • Costume Designer : Caroline Sebastian
Technical Info
  • Release Date : August 25, 2023
  • Production Year : 2023
  • Country : USA
  • Language : English, Dari, Cantonese
  • Running Time : 91 minutes
  • Aspect Ratio : 1.37:1
  • Projection Format : 4K DCP
  • Rating : NR
  • Genre : Drama
Theatrical Engagements
Theater Name
City
State
Date
San Francisco
CA
08/25/2023
San Rafael
CA
08/25/2023
Fremont
CA
08/25/2023
Berkeley
CA
08/25/2023
Castro Valley
CA
08/28/2023
New York
NY
09/01/2023
Los Angeles
CA
09/01/2023
Glendale
CA
09/01/2023
Livermore
CA
09/01/2023
San Jose
CA
09/01/2023
Sebastopol
CA
09/01/2023
Bethel
CT
09/08/2023
Encino
CA
09/01/2023
Los Angeles
CA
09/08/2023
Los Angeles
CA
09/08/2023
Chicago
IL
09/08/2023
Philadelphia
PA
09/08/2023
Minneapolis
MN
09/08/2023
Key West
FL
09/08/2023
Sacramento
CA
09/08/2023
Portland
OR
09/08/2023
Charlotte
NC
09/08/2023
Indianapolis
IN
09/08/2023
Austin
TX
09/08/2023
Winthrop
WA
09/08/2023
Springfield
MO
09/08/2023
Rome
NY
09/08/2023
Tallahassee
FL
09/08/2023
Lewes
DE
09/08/2023
London
ON
09/08/2023
Holland
MI
09/11/2023
Portland
ME
09/11/2023
Queens
NY
09/15/2023
Claremont
CA
09/15/2023
Niles
IL
09/15/2023
Oakland
CA
09/15/2023
San Francisco
CA
09/15/2023
Silver Spring
MD
09/15/2023
Washington
D.C.
09/15/2023
Greenbelt
MD
09/15/2023
Seattle
WA
09/15/2023
Tacoma
WA
09/15/2023
Scottsdale
AZ
09/15/2023
Oklahoma City
OK
09/15/2023
Santa Fe
NM
09/15/2023
Winston-Salem
NC
09/15/2023
Omaha
NE
09/15/2023
Helena
MT
09/15/2023
Juneau
AK
09/15/2023
Vancouver
BC
09/15/2023
Edmonton
AB
09/17/2023
Middletown
NY
09/22/2023
Beverly Hills
CA
09/22/2023
Dallas
TX
09/22/2023
Plano
TX
09/22/2023
Piedmont
CA
09/22/2023
Palo Alto
CA
09/22/2023
Moraga
CA
09/22/2023
Brookline
MA
09/22/2023
Fairfax
VA
09/22/2023
St. Louis
MO
09/22/2023
Salem
OR
09/22/2023
Chapel Hill
NC
09/22/2023
Nashville
TN
09/22/2023
Cincinnati
OH
09/22/2023
Asheville
NC
09/22/2023
Harrisburg
PA
09/22/2023
Williamstown
MA
09/22/2023
Blacksburg
VA
09/22/2023
Rochester
NY
09/22/2023
Hanover
NH
09/22/2023
Three Oaks
MI
09/22/2023
Amherst
MA
09/22/2023
Corvalis
OR
09/22/2023
Bend
OR
09/22/2023
Iowa City
IA
09/29/2023
Bethlehem
PA
10/06/2023
Doylestown
PA
10/06/2023
Baltimore
MD
10/06/2023
Columbus
OH
10/06/2023
Charleston
WV
10/06/2023
Twin Falls
ID
10/06/2023
Bethlehem
NH
10/09/2023
Boulder
CO
10/11/2023
Madison
WI
10/12/2023
Ambler
PA
10/13/2023
Milwaukee
WI
10/13/2023
Bar Harbor
ME
10/13/2023
Rockland
ME
10/15/2023
Utica
NY
10/18/2023
Allentown
PA
10/19/2023
Westhampton Beach
NY
10/20/2023
Larkspur
CA
10/20/2023
Santa Barbara
CA
10/20/2023
Rochester
MN
10/20/2023
Calgary
AB
10/20/2023
Saratoga
CA
11/08/2023
Olympia
WA
11/09/2023
Saginaw
MI
11/09/2023
Albuquerque
NM
11/17/2023
Cleveland
OH
11/26/2023
Bloomington
IN
12/02/2023
Oak Park
IL
01/02/2024
Coral Gables
FL
01/02/2024
Downers Grove
IL
01/22/2024