A TV crew from Tehran arrives in a remote Kurdish village to film an unusual funeral ceremony but are stymied when the old woman they expect to die clings to life. A fablelike story about professional and personal frustration, this droll drama is the most delightfully opaque and allusive of Kiarostami’s films, containing numerous references to poetry and several key figures (including the old woman) who are never seen. A wholly engrossing, sublimely beautiful film that works on multiple levels – as an absurdist comedy, a study of the relationship between ancient and modern ways of life, and a sly, self-reflexive portrait of the artist.

The screening will be introduced by Jean-Michel Frodon.

Notes by David O’Mahony