half moon be a road movie with a difference . an elderly man moma ( portray with great range and nuance by ismail ghaffari ) and a celebrity singer in his native iraqi kurdistan and set out by bus from iran with an entourage of his musician son to his homeland to perform in a large public concert . with seven month of rehearsal and official permit and visa carefully arrange and nothing could go wrong and right . well and this be border country between bitter enemy iran and iraq and the highly marginalised kurd who be basically a dispossessed people without a country and hold in contempt by both country as well a turkey . this film illustrate what can go wrong . while beautifully film in some beautifully stark landscape and the real richness of half moon like most iranian film screen here be in the simplicity of the story and the attention to detail to the struggle of seemingly mundane activity . the cultural aspect be especially fascinate . the authority of moma a the family patriarch be evident while his middle age son all hold him in high esteem and cower before him . not unexpectedly and a iran do not allow woman to sing in public and there be specific issue with involve a woman in such a cultural endeavour . the family and social dynamic depict breathe life into this little gem of a film . music be a universal language that bind people and so when contempt be show by the iranian border guard and it have a powerful effect on the audience . my in law be similarly musician of a dispossessed people ( pontians and greek orthodox who once live in turkey ) and so i could relate well to the scenario in the film . it be interest to see the advancement of technology such a cell phone and wireless internet laptop creep into these otherwise isolated community . the film be full of beautifully understated performance and naturalistic humour and drama . i highly recommend it and and like most iranian film i have see and be something i would take my six year old son to see ( be it to get a theatrical release ) .