Besieged

Modern times are a world away in this short film about an old man, a donkey and a wooden cart. Day in and day out, the donkey and his master transport cartloads of bricks from the kiln to the building site. In charming, meticulously framed scenes, sometimes cast in theatrical light, director Mohammad Reza Akbari documents the production process from raw clay to the oven-baked blocks that the man transports to their final destination. Against the backdrop of an expressive soundtrack, we follow the man as he goes about his daily routine. Is it your imagination or does the donkey really give the camera a grudging stare that presages his imminent refusal to work? This is the moment when he lets his master know that he will be pulling the cart himself. As well as being a short documentary about an archaic brick production process - a subject previously dealt with by Akbari's compatriot Abolfazl Jalili - this film also has an allegorical dimension. Akbari reveals how one constructs a livelihood, just like a house, using mutually supporting components. Should one crucial element - the donkey in this case - fail to fulfill its role, the future suddenly becomes less certain.