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Running time: 92 minutes

Seating: Allocated - See Seating Plan for More Details

The screening on Wednesday 18 October 2pm will have descriptive subtitles.

Donya, a young Afghan who moved to Fremont, California after serving as a translator for the American army, spends her days working at a fortune cookie factory and her evenings wide awake. Donya can’t sleep.

girl lying on bed awake in black and white

She spends her nights in a twin bed staring at the ceiling with the internal struggle for desire to rebuild her life teamed with the gut-wrenching guilt she holds within. Donya feels that a life full of love and enjoyment is unwarranted when so many Afghans live in a country plagued by war.

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Donya’s days exist with little stimulation, stringent routine, followed by an evening of lacklustre wakefulness. In an attempt to connect with the world, she sends an unconventional message through a fortune cookie “Desperate for a dream” with her name and number. Tinged with impassive humour, this sensitive immigrant tale contains a breakout performance by real-life refugee Anaita Wali Zada.

“utterly delightful Jarmuschian drama” – The Guardian ★★★★

“This is the kind of movie whose amiable directionlessness and romantic gentleness generate a lot of warmth; it’s the kind of independent film which we haven’t seen a lot of lately, endowed with intimacy and a kind of dreamy charm.” – The Telegraph ★★★★

Sun Valley Film Festival- One In A Million Award Winner

Independent Film Festival of Boston- Grand Jury Prize Winner

Karlovy Vary International Film Festival- Best Director Winner

Deauvile Film Festival- Jury Prize Winner

Director: Babak Jalali

Cast: Anaita Wali Zada, Jeremy Allen White, Gregg Turkington

  • Information about screenings with descriptive subtitles

    Descriptive subtitles, sometimes referred to as subtitles for D/deaf and hard-of-hearing people or captions, transcribe dialogue and relevant aspects of the soundtrack, including music and sound effects, attempting to give D/deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers an equal experience to those who are able to watch films without descriptive subtitles. Descriptive subtitles would include speech identifiers and descriptive elements such as [door slamming] and [kettle whistling].

  • Seating accessibility information

    Cinema

    Seat size

    Seats in the Cinema are 45cm (172/3“) wide and 46cm (18“) deep, are 40cm (152/3“) from the floor, and have 12cm (42/3“) between seats.

    Armrests

    Seats in the Cinema have armrests that do not fold away, and cannot be completely removed.

    Legroom

    Seats in the cinema have 30cm (112/3”) of legroom in front of seats, with additional legroom on row A and seats B1-B4 and B11-B14.

    Further information

    If you have any questions about accessibility our Box Office team are always happy to help and can be contacted on 01642 525199 or by emailing [email protected] - you can also tell us about your access requirements when prompted to do so during the online booking process.

  • BBFC Rating information (may contain spoilers)

    Language

    There is infrequent use of strong language (‘motherf**ker’), as well as other terms such as ‘asshole’ and ‘dipstick’.

    Sex

    There are infrequent, very mild sex references.

    Theme

    It is implied that a psychiatrist believes PTSD is responsible for the inability to sleep of an Afghan with experiences of war. The Afghan talks in undetailed terms about the deaths of friends, and threats made against her family.