“The lean screenplay and Paragas’ focused creative vision makes for a singular directorial feature debut that feels like nothing else happening in film right now.”
— Beth Sullivan, Austin Chronicle
“Heartfelt. Provocative. Affecting on almost every level.”
— Justin Lowe, The Hollywood Reporter
“Yellow Rose is ultimately a film about kindness. The world can be cruel, but the film’s characters tend not to be. ‘I never fit in, never could win / Though I tried and tried, this feeling don’t end / I feel out of place, sung out of tune / Like a velvet chair in a dusty saloon,’ Rose shares through the lyrics of “Square Peg,” the beautiful country ballad that best sums up her feelings. It’s a keeper, and so is the film. ”
— Peter Debruge, Variety
“Eva Noblezada is mesmerizing. Country music has been described as ‘three chords and the truth’ and the powerful simplicity of that line courses through the film. Still, it’s the portrait of the immigrant experience through one young woman’s fight to belong that makes ‘Yellow Rose’ a film that stays with you long after it’s over.” Peter Travers, ABC”
— Peter Travers, ABC
“Infused with a deep love and appreciation for the music culture and history of Austin, Texas, a place where Rose (Eva Noblezada) just makes sense as a singer, songwriter and storyteller expressing her true experiences from the heart, like the best country artists always do. That her story is one of struggling to fit in, of losing her mother to an overreaching and inhumane government not only ties her to the greatest country artists of the past, it makes her tale achingly, and appropriately, contemporary.”
— Katie Walsh, LA Times
“Diane Paragas’ film was a festival circuit smash, and for good reason: the Eva Noblezada-led feature winningly blends immigration drama with musical dreams.”