A filmmaker named Hadi is sent to Croatia to complete his research for a film. Aziz, Hadi’s friend, gives him a cassette tape, a piece of image, and a half a piece of plaque in order to find a girl named Fatima. Alongside a Farsi-speaking Bosnian woman, Hanifa, Hadi begins his quest for Fatima.
Cinematography
Smoke-grey Balkan landscapes that swallow characters whole.
Acting
Pesyani's dual performance—two brothers, one grief.
Writing
Dialogue sparse as artillery craters, every word earned.
Director
Ebrahim Hatamikia
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Hatamikia shot during the actual Bosn War; some ruins weren't sets. The film was banned in Iran for 'un-Islamic' romance across ethnic lines.
The cassette contains Forough Farrokhzad's poetry—Aziz literally sends Hadi a voice Iran tried to silence.
IR
