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{{short description|2004 Kurdish film directed by Bahman Ghobadi}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2023}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Turtles Can Fly
| image = Turtles Can Fly poster.jpg
| alt = 
| caption = US theatrical release poster
| director = [[Bahman Ghobadi]]
| producer = {{Plainlist|
* Babak Amini
* Hamid Ghobadi
* Hamid Ghavami
* Bahman Ghobadi
}}
| writer = Bahman Ghobadi
| starring = {{Plainlist|
* Soran Ebrahim
* Avaz Latif
}}
| music = [[Hossein Alizadeh]]
| cinematography = Shahriar Assadi
| editing = {{Plainlist|
* Mostafa Kherghehpoosh
* Hayedeh Safiyari
}}
| studio = {{Plainlist|
* Mij Film Co.
* Bac Film}}
| distributor = [[IFC Films]] {{small|(US)}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.screendaily.com/ifc-takes-us-rights-to-turtles-can-fly/4020895.article|title=IFC takes US rights to Turtles Can Fly|first=Jeremy|last=Kay|date=10 November 2004|access-date=27 February 2021|website=[[ScreenDaily]]}}</ref>
| released = {{Film date|df=y|2004|09|10|[[2004 Toronto International Film Festival|Toronto]]|2005|02|18|United States|2005|02|23|France}}
| runtime = 97 minutes<!--Theatrical runtime: 97:08--><ref>{{cite web|title=''TURTLES CAN FLY'' (15)|url=http://www.bbfc.co.uk/releases/turtles-can-fly-2005-1|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130624222600/http://www.bbfc.co.uk/releases/turtles-can-fly-2005-1|url-status=dead|archive-date=24 June 2013|work=[[British Board of Film Classification]]|date=29 November 2004|access-date=23 June 2013}}</ref>
|country =  {{Plainlist|
* Iran
* France
* Iraq
}}
| language = [[Kurdish languages|Kurdish]]
| budget = 
| gross = $816,975<ref>[https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0424227/ Turtles Can Fly] – ''[[Box Office Mojo]]''. Retrieved 27 February 2021</ref>
}}

'''''Turtles Can Fly'''''{{Efn|{{langx|ku|کیسەڵەکانیش دەفڕن|italic=yes}}; {{Langx|fa|لاک‌پشت‌ها هم پرواز می‌کنند|italic=yes}}; {{Langx|ar|السلاحف تستطيع الطيران|italic=yes}}}} ([[Kurdish language|Kurdish]]: ''Kûsî jî dikarin bifirin'') is a 2004 Kurdish [[War film|war]] [[Drama (film and television)|drama film]] written, directed and co-produced by [[Bahman Ghobadi]]. The film stars Soran Ebrahim, Avaz Latif, Saddam Hossein Faysal, Hiresh Feysal Rahman, Abdolrahman Karim, Ajil Zibari. The plot revolves around three refugee children near the Iraqi-Turkish border, waiting for the [[United States|Americans]] to invade [[Ba'athist Iraq|Iraq]] and overthrow [[Saddam Hussein]].

''Turtles Can Fly'' was the first film to be made after the [[2003 invasion of Iraq]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://yallairaq.com/amp/%D9%88%DB%8E%D8%B3%D8%AA%DA%AF%D9%87%E2%80%8C%DB%8C-%D8%B4%D8%A7%D8%AF%DB%8C/%D8%A6%DB%95%D9%85-%D9%81%DB%8C%D9%84%D9%85%DB%95-%D9%83%D9%88%D8%B1%D8%AF%DB%8C%DB%95%D8%AA-%D8%A8%DB%8C%D9%86%DB%8C%D9%88%DB%95-%D9%83%DB%95-%D9%84%DB%95-73-%DA%A4%DB%8C%D8%B3%D8%AA%DB%8C%DA%A4/|title=ئەم فیلمە كوردیەت بینیوە كە لە 73 ڤیستیڤاڵی نێودەوڵەتی نمایشكراوە؟|trans-title=Have you seen this Kurdish movie that has been shown at 73 international festival?|publisher=يلا|date=23 July 2017|access-date=27 February 2021|website=Yalla}}</ref><ref>{{Cite AV media notes |title=Turtles Can Fly |last=Ghobadi |first=Bahman |author-link=Bahman Ghobadi |date=2005 |type=DVD |publisher=Sony Pictures Home Entertainment |id=027616124142 |location=Culver City, California |oclc=61126755 |isbn=9780792867418}}</ref> It had its premiere at [[2004 Toronto International Film Festival]].

==Plot==
The film is set in the [[Kurds|Kurdish]] refugee camp on the [[Iraq–Turkey border]] on the eve of the [[2003 invasion of Iraq|US invasion of Iraq]]. 13 year-old Soran, known by the [[Pseudonym|alias]] Kak Satellite, is known for his installation of dishes and antenna for the villages who are looking for news about [[Saddam Hussein]]. He is also known for his limited knowledge of the [[English language]], which he learns because he interacts with the Americans when they invade. He is the dynamic but [[Psychological manipulation|manipulative]] leader of a group of children, organizing the dangerous but necessary tasks of sweeping and clearing of the [[land mine|minefields]]. Many of these children are injured one way or the other, but still maintain a boisterous prattle whenever possible, devoted to their work in spite of the vagaries of their life.

The industrious Kak Satellite arranges trade-ins for undetonated mines. He falls for a girl named Agrin, an orphan from [[Halabja]] who has recently came to the refugee camps, assisting her whenever possible in order to win her over. She is a perpetual sour-faced girl who is part bitter and part lost in thought, unable to escape the demons of the past. She is traveling with her disabled but very caring brother Hengov, who has the gift of [[clairvoyance]] that gives him a bad reputation. The siblings stay with a blind toddler named Riga, who they introduce as their "little brother". It is later revealed that Agrin gave birth to Riga after she was [[gang rape]]d by [[Ba'ath]] soldiers, while Hengov's arms had been shot as the soldiers attempted to drown both of them. Agrin is unable to accept Riga as anything besides a taint, a continuous reminder of her brutal past.

Agrin tries to abandon the child and commit suicide on multiple occasions. Once she tries to burn herself in the lake, but she gives up. Trying to get rid of the child, she ties him on a tree and abandons him. He walks around until he gets stuck in a minefield. Kak Satellite tries to rescue him but a mine blows on Kak Satellite, injuring his leg. After multiple tries, Agrin finally ties Riga to a rock and throws him to the bottom of the lake, afterwards committing suicide herself by jumping from a cliff. When her brother sees a vision of his loved ones drowning, he hurries out of the tent to save them, but he is too late. Hengov eventually finds his nephew's body at the bottom of the lake but can't cut it loose from the rock due to his disability. Hengov grieves on the cliff from where Agrin jumped to her death. Meanwhile, a disabled Kak Satellite loses any charm he had about the American intervention and looks away when the American soldiers finally pass by him.

==Cast==
{{Cast listing|
* Soran Ebrahim as Kak Satellite/Soran
* Avaz Latif as Agrin
* Saddam Hossein Faysal as Pashow
* Hiresh Feysal Rahman as Hengov
* Abdol Rahman Karim as Riga
* Ajil Zibari as Shirkooh
}}

==Reception==
===Critical response===
On the [[review aggregator]] [[Rotten Tomatoes]], the film holds an approval rating of 88% based on 73 reviews, with an average rating of 7.70/10. The site's critical consensus reads "Set in Iraq after the fall of Saddam, ''Turtles Can Fly'' is being hailed as extraordinary, moving, and lyrical."<ref name="tomatoes">{{cite web|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/turtles_can_fly|title=Turtles Can Fly (2004)|website=[[Rotten Tomatoes]]|access-date=25 February 2021}}</ref> On [[Metacritic]], the film has a weighted average score of 85 out of 100, based on 31 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.metacritic.com/movie/turtles-can-fly|title=Turtles Can Fly Reviews|publisher=[[Metacritic]]|access-date=25 February 2021}}</ref>

Film critic [[Roger Ebert]] gave the film four out of four stars, describing the film's story as "the actual lives of refugees, who lack the luxury of opinions because they are preoccupied with staying alive in a world that has no place for them".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/turtles-can-fly-2005/ |title=Children teetering on the border |last=Ebert |first=Roger |author-link=Roger Ebert |work=RogerEbert.com |publisher=Ebert Digital LLC |access-date=9 April 2018 |date=14 April 2005}}</ref> [[David Sterritt]] of ''[[The Christian Science Monitor]]'' praised the film saying, "Superb acting and authentic details energize this rare Iran/Iraq coproduction.".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0218/p14s02-almo.html|title=Movie Guide|first=David|last=Sterritt|author-link=David Sterritt|website=[[The Christian Science Monitor]]|date=18 February 2005|access-date=15 February 2021}}</ref> Michael Koresky of ''[[IndieWire]]'' praised the film writing, "Rarely does a film feel this urgent, like a message in a bottle accidentally washed ashore."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.indiewire.com/2005/02/message-in-a-bottle-bahman-ghobadis-turtles-can-fly-78403/|title=Message in a Bottle: Bahman Ghobadi's "Turtles Can Fly"|first=Michael|last=Koresky|date=15 February 2005|access-date=1 March 2021|website=[[IndieWire]]|publisher=IndieWire}}</ref>

The film was included in the list of best war movies of all time by Jacob Osborn and Megan Drillinger of ''[[News Channel Nebraska]]'', where it was placed on the 35th position.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newschannelnebraska.com/story/42335839/best-war-movies-of-all-time|title=Best war movies of all time|last1=Osborn|first1=Jacob|last2=Drillinger|first2=Megan|medium=[[News Channel Nebraska]]|date=7 July 2020|access-date=27 February 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://knwe.org/?p=81068|title=کیسەڵەکانیش دەفڕن لە لیستی 100 فیلمی دیاری مێژووی سینەمادایە|trans-title="Turtles Can Fly" is on the list of 100 best movie of all time|date=13 September 2019|access-date=27 February 2021|website=Kurdstani Nwe}}</ref>

==Awards==
# Special Mention by the Youth Jury, [[Berlin International Film Festival]], 2005<ref>{{Cite web|title=Prizes & Honours 2005|url=https://www.berlinale.de/en/archive/jahresarchive/2005/03_preistraeger_2005/03_preistraeger_2005.html|access-date=2020-11-13|website=berlinale.de|language=en}}</ref>
# Golden Seashell, Best Film, [[San Sebastián International Film Festival]], 2004
# Special Jury Prize, [[Chicago International Film Festival]], 2004
# International Jury and Audience Awards, São Paulo International Film Festival, 2004
# La Pieza Award, Best Film, Mexico City International Contemporary Film Festival, 2005
# Audience Award, [[Rotterdam International Film Festival]], 2005
# Golden Prometheus, Best Film, Tbilisi International Film Festival, 2005
# Aurora Award, Tromsø International Film Festival, 2005
# Golden Butterfly, Isfahan International Festival of Films for Children, 2004
# Gold Dolphin, [[Festróia - Tróia International Film Festival]], 2005
# Sundance Selection, 2005
# Silver Skeleton Award Harvest Moonlight Festival 2007

==In popular culture==
The film had an influence on the 2007-2009 [[Gundam]] [[anime]] series ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam 00]]''. The anime's main protagonist [[Setsuna F. Seiei]] is a war orphan of Kurdish origins and his real name is Soran Ibrahim, a reference to the child actor portraying the protagonist of ''Turtles Can Fly''.<ref>{{cite web|last=Manry |first=Gia |title=AX09: Gundam 00 Focus Panel |url=http://www.animevice.com/news/ax09-gundam-00-focus-panel/1674/ |work=[[Anime Vice]] |publisher=[[Whiskey Media]] |access-date=1 August 2012 |date=5 July 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141223054515/http://www.animevice.com/news/ax09-gundam-00-focus-panel/1674/ |archive-date=23 December 2014 }}</ref> The film was sampled by [[Jay Electronica]] in his 2007 mixtape ''[[Act I: Eternal Sunshine (The Pledge)]]''.<ref name="Hazor">{{Cite web|url=https://djbooth.net/features/2019-07-10-ten-best-rap-songs-10-minutes-or-longer|title=10 Best Rap Songs 10 Minutes or Longer|date=10 July 2019|access-date=28 January 2020|website=DJ Booth|author=Gal Hazor}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Kurdish cinema|Kurdish Cinema]]

== Notes ==
<references group="lower-alpha" />

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite thesis|first=Yulia|last=Ningish|title=The anxiety of Agrin in Bahman Ghobady's ''Turtles Can Fly'' (2005): A psychoanalytic approach|year=2010|publisher=[[Muhammadiyah University of Surakarta]]|id=A320 060 092|url=http://eprints.ums.ac.id/8255/2/A320060092.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwiA1fzC44rvAhWQy4UKHfjaAFsQFjABegQIBRAD&usg=AOvVaw3-Xh5ITon5Ne8NVtxYXAA9|access-date=27 February 2021|language=en|type=Research Paper}}

==External links==
* {{YouTube|k7Io-syTNsM|Behind the scenes}}
* {{IMDb title|0424227|Turtles Can Fly}}
* {{mojo title|turtlescanfly|Turtles Can Fly}}
* {{rotten-tomatoes|turtles_can_fly|Turtles Can Fly}}
* {{Metacritic film|title=Turtles Can Fly}}

{{Bahman Ghobadi}}
{{Festroia Best Film}}
{{Golden Shell}}
{{Iranian submission for Academy Awards}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Turtles Can Fly}}
[[Category:2004 films]]
[[Category:2000s war drama films]]
[[Category:Iraqi drama films]]
[[Category:French war drama films]]
[[Category:Kurdish films]]
[[Category:Kurdish-language films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Bahman Ghobadi]]
[[Category:Films about orphans]]
[[Category:Films about suicide]]
[[Category:Films set in 2003]]
[[Category:Films set in Iraq]]
[[Category:Films set in Turkey]]
[[Category:Films shot in Iraq]]
[[Category:2004 independent films]]
[[Category:Iraq War films]]
[[Category:French independent films]]
[[Category:Iranian independent films]]
[[Category:Iranian war drama films]]
[[Category:2004 drama films]]
[[Category:2000s French films]]
[[Category:Films scored by Hossein Alizadeh]]