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30 Jan – 9 Feb 2025

Angel on the Right

Farishtay kifti rost

Djamshed Usmonov | France | 2002 | 88' | | IFFR 2003

According to an ancient faith, everyone is accompanied in life by two invisible angels. The angel on the right shoulder records your good deeds, while that on the left shoulder records the evil ones. At the end of your life, the decision is taken whether you go to heaven or hell. Halima was left ten years ago by her son Khamro, who went to try his luck in Russia. Halima fears that if she dies, her coffin will not fit through the narrow front door and will have to be lifted over the walls of the garden. That would be an unbearable humiliation. So Halima thinks up a ruse: she pretends she is on her deathbed so that her son will return and install the broad, beautifully lavish door once promised. Khamro does indeed come home, but to make the journey, he has to borrow money from conmen. He thinks he can use the value of the house to pay off his creditors, but everything changes when his mother doesn’t die and he is suddenly confronted with an unsuspected son.In making the film, Usmonov remained close to his roots. The film was shot in his home village Asht, where fact and fiction intermingle. The roles of Halima and Khamro are played by his mother and brother and also his father, an uncle and a cousin – all amateurs – had a role to play.Usmonov’s next film will be called Angel on the Left.

Film details

Country of production
France
Year
2002
Festival edition
IFFR 2003
Length
88"
Medium/Format
35mm

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