It's the final film of my personal Middle Eastern film festival and I give my thanks to James McKenzie who sent the whole pacakage of movies from Edinburgh where the movies have been playing over the last month.
And, once again, I am counting as a re-release a movie which was the first made in post-Saddam Iraq and was originally at cinemas in 2004.
It is a fabulous film to herald this year's century of movies. But don't worry if you think counting re-releases as a swizz - I'll still be trying to review all of the brand new movies this year too!
Anyway, whatever the whys and wherefores of the everyfilm count-up, I am more than pleased that I somewhat belatedly took in this amazing piece of work by director Bhaman Ghobadi.
It surrounds life of a Kurdish village on the border of Iraq and Turkey in the days leading up to the 2003 invasion.
This is Mad Max-type world with the exception that it is populated only by hordes of children and grizzled elders.
The children are led, Lord of The Flies-style by a boy they call Satellite (Soran Ebrahim) because of his ability to install receivers for foreign language news bulletins which the locals crave.
As a means of financing his operations, Satellite sends children out into minefields and collect landmines which he uses as currency.
The consequence is that many of the young boys have lost limbs (two of the key characters are heavily disabled).
Satellite also has eyes for a refugee girl who is bordering on suicidal because she has ended up as surrogate mother for a blind toddler.
Turtles Can Fly is a heartbreaking reflection on the awfulness of war and regimes which suppress their own people.
It will stand in my mind for years, let alone months.
I was left hoping beyond hope that the director was being over-dramatic just for effect. I have a terrible feeling that he wasn't.
Laughs: none
Jumps: one big one
Vomit: none
Nudity: none
Rating: 9/10 with a must-see recommendation.
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