Sib O Salma

Notable Iranian director Habib Bahmani found success at Russia's Golden Minbar festival (2011) and at Cannes this year with his social drama SIB O SALMA, a story which uses the symbol of the apple as forbidden fruit to represent issues of consent, accountability, forgiveness, human rights and free will. Contemporary Persian cinema, championed by Haneke and Herzog, is known for its elliptical, quaintly curious but always engaging appeal. Hadi Dibaji stars as a cunning, playful and impulsive young Muslim seminary student and cleric, who embarks on a voyage of discovery which is bittersweet in its self-indulgent futility. Bright and mischievous as its central character, and grounded by a stalwart performance from co-star Behruz Baghaei, SIB O SALMA is thoughtful and philosophical, but never didactic or opaque – a compelling contemporary moral fable.