A Few Cubic Meters of Love - Iran/Afghanistan

*Favorite Film of the Festival* "Amid a cluster of corrugated-metal shacks in a desolate industrial suburb of Tehran, love blooms between a young Afghan émigrée and an Iranian metal-punch worker." I hope I never forget the visuals of this movie. It was horrifying to see the conditions that the Afghanis lived. They were metal shacks in an iron scrap yard where the men worked. The people had very few possessions and even a former doctor was doing back breaking work like helping pull a truck out of a ditch. "Afghan refugees without work permits or ID cards who are routinely subjected to the humiliations of being paid half the wages of Iranians and raided and chased by the police." Amid this difficult life two teenagers, the boy Iranian and the girl Afghani somehow fall in love and find a deserted container yard where they can visit (a few cubic meters). They have beautiful smiles, pure hearts, playfulness and a sincere deep love for each other. "Saber and Marona have become convinced by their happiness that the world will bend and align with their impossible dreams." Two of the most lovely and likeable characters I have seen in film. An Iraqi worker gets into a fight with an Afghani male and argues with the boss that they shouldn't be allowed to live and work there. Although many have been there up to 10 years. He tells the police where they hide during the raids and they are all caught hiding in a half submerged sewer pipe. This forces the Afghanis to have to go back to Afghanistan where they left due to the Soviets bombing them out of their houses. They really have nothing back home. Saber and Marona are so in love they can't control their tears and especially because Marona is pregnant and can't let her father know. Saber has the manager stand up for him on his behalf to ask for marriage. The father becomes hysterical when he finds out. He doesn't want his daughter to live as a second class citizen never accepted in Iran as none of them have been. He wants her to live knowing what it is like to be respected in a society as an equal. This is where the Romeo and Juliet theme turns tragic. They meet in their abandoned container as he wants to convince her to stay with him. She accepts, then the container is blocked in on all sides and they will soon die. The last words are I love you, which she was never able to say before. What makes the movie special is that they filmed it on location in Iran using factory workers. The cinematography of the workers lives and homes was fascinating. I don't want to forget because I'm so fortunate with my life and I don't know how these workers can tolerate even one day the way they have to life to survive. They are innocent and dignified people who did nothing wrong but survive a war.

Here is the trailer to this amazing movie:
Click Here