FRONTIER BLUES is the debut feature film written and directed by the Iranian born Babak Jalali, presented as a world première in August 2009 at the 62nd Locarno International Film Festival.
FRONTIER BLUES features 4 intertwined stories all set in Iran's northern frontier with Turkmenistan, a region that has long been neglected in Iranian cinema, interesting not only for its magnificent, forlorn landscape but also for its multi-ethnic population of Persians, Turkmens and Kazakhs.
This film looks at fragments from the everyday existence of several characters that reside in this region. It was written based on what I saw, what I heard and what I did. It’s about the Northern Iranian Frontier. It’s the story of longing, waiting, remembering, desperate men and absent women. It’s about not quite getting there. Wherever that may be… said the director who was born there.
Alam is a 28 year-old Turkmen man who lives with his father and works on a chicken farm. He is teaching himself English in order to marry a girl called Ana and take her to Baku.
Hassan is a 28 year-old Persian man who lives with his uncle. His only companions are his pet donkey and a tape player.
Kazem, Hassan’s uncle, owns a clothing store but the clothes he tries to sell never seem to fit anyone.
A 55 year-old Turkmen minstrel is the subject of a book of photography by a photographer from Tehran. His wife was kidnapped by a shepherd in a green Mercedes many years ago.
FRONTIER BLUES features non-professional actors from Golestan, the Northern region of Iran, where the film was shot.