RIVERSIDE, THE

The Riverside Iran

During the recent Iraq'US war, a newly-wed bride steps on a mine in the sparse, sun-scorched desert on the Iran'Iraq border. If she moves her foot, the mine will detonate. Pleading for her husband to help, the young woman is hysterical. Urging his beloved to remain calm, the man sprints off in search of assistance.

Meanwhile, a number of displaced and wandering Kurds traverse the rocky landscape, each on their own perilous journey: a man transports a body wrapped in plastic, over his shoulder; an old homeless woman has her worldly possessions strapped to the back of a cow; three men follow a row of enormous power lines to the Iran border; a young man scuttles over the terrain with guns slung over his back; a women carries her two young granddaughters to safety. As helicopters fly overhead, the refugees flee for their lives, eventually reaching the border where the young bride waits for her husband to return.

Effectively capturing the sense of loss and displacement of this innocent group of people, director Alireza Amini, whose debut film Letters in the Wind is also playing in the Festival this year, has crafted a tense and timely allegorical tale.

D/S Alireza Amini P Habibollah Kasesaz WS Iranian Independents L Kurdish w/English subtitles TD 35mm/Col/2003/80mins

Alireza Amini was born in Tehran, Iran in 1970. Films include: Letters in the Wind (MIFF 2004), Tiny Snowflakes (2003).