Director: Bahman Farmanara

The Desert of the Tartars

Lieutenant Giovanni Drogo is assigned to the old Bastiani border fortress where he expects an imminent attack by nomadic fearsome Tartars.

Chess of the Wind

The first lady of a noble house has died and now there is conflict between the remainders for taking over her heritage.

The Report

A tax collector is accused of taking bribes, and also has to deal with problems at home, including a suicide attempt by his wife.

Smell of Camphor, Fragrance of Jasmine

Death surrounds Bahman, a director who hasn't made a film in 24 years (he can't get past the censors). He's working on a documentary, for Japanese TV, on Iranian burial practices. On the anniversary of his wife's death, a hitchhiker tells him a story of spousal abuse and infant mortality, he discovers that someone has been buried in his plot next to his wife, and he needs the help of his attorney, a well-connected fixer. He dreams of death, even as he investigates it for his film. His niece's husband, a well-known writer, fails to return home; he searches hospitals for an unclaimed body. His heart disease is flaring up. Is he prepared for death? Is that all that's left?