Jirga

"Writer/director Benjamin Gilmour's Jirga is an arresting drama about one man's journey for penance, even it means that he'll pay for it with his life. Sam Smith plays Australian soldier Mike Wheeler haunted by the death of a man during a village raid (by his hand) and fixed on finding his way back the village to beg forgiveness."

"The Afghan landscape is imposingly photographed, as are the faces of the Afghan people, but as a coherent narrative, the film is lacking."

"Unfortunately cryptic but nonetheless fascinating..."

"The strain of making it sometimes shows, but (Jirga) is a quite remarkable piece of work all the same."

"This movie is undeniably a remarkable achievement. You wish it had just a little more dramatic heft."

"(Jirga's) heavy-handed message about guilt, responsibility, and forgiveness is outright stated to the audience... But you will remember the experience of having your eyes opened to a new part of the world."

"A remarkable truthfulness shepherds Benjamin Gilmour’s tightly written and conscientiously produced drama Jirga as it renders an image of Afghanistan not as a ravaged battleground but as an arrestingly rich land."

"Its very existence seems to constitute an act of compassion."

"It's a fine film, even without the backstory. Gilmour shows a real empathy with the Afghani non-actors. Their character and traditions are part of the subject, and both are surprising."

"The filmmaking could most charitably be described as artless, with a medley of shaky thousand-pixel close-ups providing a sense of detail that doesn't quite extend to the script."