Memento International has closed a raft of deals on “Fremont,” the critically acclaimed film by BAFTA-nominated Iranian-born director Babak Jalali. The movie world premiered at Sundance and was acquired by Music Box for North America in a deal negotiated by CAA.
The black-and-white film, laced with wry humor, tells the story of Donya, a young woman working at a Chinese fortune cookie factory in the San Francisco bay. Formerly a translator for the U.S. military in Afghanistan, she struggles to put her life back in order. In a moment of sudden revelation, she decides to send out a special message in a cookie.
Following its Sundance premiere, the film played at SXSW and is slated to compete at Karlovy Vary. Other festival lined up include Deauville, Melbourne and Athens.
Memento International was able to attract top distributors across major markets, notably France (JHR), U.K. (Modern Films), Switzerland (Trigon), Sweden (Draken), Indonesia (PT Falcon) and Middle East (Front Row).
“Fremont” marks the screen debut of Anaita Wali Zada, a real-life Afghan refugee, who stars in the film opposite Jeremy Allen White, well-known for his roles in “The Bear” and “Shameless,” and Gregg Turkington (“Ant-Man”). White will next been seen in Sean Durkin’s upcoming A24 movie “The Iron Claw” with Zac Efron.
Jalali previously directed “Land” which played at Berlin, “Radio Dreams,” winner of the best film award at Rotterdam, and “Frontier Blues” which competed at Locarno. “Fremont” was penned by Carolina Cavalli, whose filmmaking credits include “Amanda,” and Jalali.
“Fremont” is produced by Marjaneh Moghimi’s Butimar Productions and Rachael Fung’s Extra A Productions in association with Blue Morning Pictures. The film is also produced by the late Moghimi, Sudnya Shroff, Rachael Fung, George Rush, Chris Martin and Laura Wagner.