Ten

Celebrated Iranian writer-director Abbas Kiarostami (Taste of Cherry, Close-up) once again casts his masterful cinematic gaze upon the modern sociopolitical landscape of his homeland, this time as seen through the eyes of one woman as she drives through the streets of Tehran over a period of several days. Her journey is comprised of ten conversations with various female passengers, including her sister, a hitchhiking prostitute and a jilted bride, as well as her imperious young son. As Kiarostami’s ‘dashboard cam’ eavesdrops on these lively, heart-wrenching road trips, a complex portrait of contemporary Iran comes sharply into focus. Calling it a ‘work of inspired simplicity,’ A.O. Scott in The New York Times wrote that Kiarostami, “in addition to being perhaps the most internationally admired Iranian filmmaker of the past decade, is also among the world masters of automotive cinema… He understands the automobile as a place of reflection, observation and, above all, talk.” –Zeitgeist Films