1960s Teheran, night-time. Hashem, a taxi driver picks up a woman and drives her to the edge of town. As he drives away, he hears a baby crying, and finds the infant has been left in the back seat. Returning to the darkness, Hashem can't find the woman so he journeys through the city in a vain attempt to track her down. A waitress, Taji, with whom Hashem sleeps with, wants him to keep the baby. He is unconvinced.

Brick & Mirror is arguably Iranian cinema’s first modern classic and a touchstone of the Iranian New Wave. Directed by the legendary Ebrahim Golestan (still alive today at 100 years of age), it draws on Dostoyevskian themes of modern urban alienation and anxiety, with sharp and direct use of sound and cramped, oppressive framing.

Restoration by Cineteca di Bologna, Ecran Noir Productions. Funding provided by Cineteca di Bologna, Fereydoun Firouz.

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