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SIMA’S SONG
Director: Roya Sadat
Afghanistan in 1972 is a cauldron of opposing political forces. Suraya, part of an influential political family, becomes head of the dominant Communist Party’s women’s organisation, believing it is the best hope for equal rights. Her friend Sima is sceptical of all politics and, as a talented musician, is dedicated to her traditional art and its romantic themes. Despite their differences, these two young women remain best friends through university, even when Sima marries and starts attending Muslim Youth meetings. When the army starts arresting Muslim activists, Suraya helps her friends escape to the mountains and the protection of the mujahadeen, but war follows them. The film is a marvellous testament to the courage and loyalty of Afghani women in the face of constant adversity.

6 AM
Director: Mehran Modiri
Sarah is leaving Teheran for three years to study for her doctorate in Canada. Her flight is at 6 am. After an emotionally fraught final dinner with her family, she heads to an impromptu farewell party at her friend Farida’s apartment, intending to go straight to the airport afterwards. That plan implodes, however, when the morality police swoop in. Drinks are emptied, musical instruments hidden and women put on their overcoats, while Sarah is seized with terror that they will all be arrested – and she, of course, will miss her plane. Mehran Modiri, Iran’s popular satirist, who also has a chilling cameo as a police hostage negotiator, proves here that he is just as at home with a nail-biting drama.

TO KILL A MONGOLIAN HORSE
Director: Xiaoxuan Jiang
Saina’s father never taught him to ride: he simply put him on the back of a horse, a Mongolian herdsman’s natural habitat. Saina now earns his living performing spectacular tricks in equestrian shows for tourists, trying to make enough money to cover his father’s gambling debts as well as support his little son. His true vocation, however, is caring for his sheep and horses on the grasslands that stretch as far as the eye can see - a way of life under threat from climate change, encroaching poverty and profiteering mining companies. A moving, superbly shot portrait of a man clinging to the things that make that life worthwhile: the endless sky, the silence, his herdsman’s heritage and his beloved horses.