The Iranian films were the first ones I booked for the festival. Well, three out of the four screening. I blame the handful of brilliant Iranian films I have seen in the past year – A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, A Separation, The Past, Crimson Gold, Rhino Season. Of course this means my hopes were high for Tales. It was a little episodic, consisting of loosely linked tales that followed ordinary people as they grapple with the inequities, frustrations and tragedies of life in a country that is faltering. I don’t know the director, Rakhshan Banietemad’s, work but it seems that many of these characters were drawn from previous films. Continue reading →