It's Winter

Redundant labourer Mokhtar (Abdi) has exhausted all possibilities of getting a job in his home city and reaches the conclusion that the only solution lies abroad.

However, he leaves behind young wife Khatoun (Hadjar) to eke out a livelihood as a seamstress to clothe and feed her mother and young daughter in a crumbling shack that has consumed all their savings.

Six months down the line, they have heard nothing from Mokhtar and are forced to sell the few sticks of furniture they own to helps ends meet.

At the same time Marhab (Nicsolat), a handsome drifter boasting a rockabilly barnet, has arrived in the city, working through jobs ranging from squeegee merchant to a mechanic.

A young optimist, impatient with the status quo, he spots the beautiful Khatoun and embarks on a protracted courtship, spurred on by the news that Mokhtar is dead.

However, marriage brings with it no respite from the grim ordeal of daily life: shifty employers wriggle out of handing over an honest day's pay while the lure of the West pulls ever stronger.

This bleakly realistic tale from Rafi Pitts touches on a woman's place in Iranian society - not a good one - yet Khatoun is the strong character here. While a prisoner of a society run by men, she can still hold her own...and hold a family together.

Marhab, for all his cravings for a better life, is essentially a younger version of Mokhtar, a man torn between a relatively lucrative life abroad and the blood ties to his family.

It's certainly not a life-affirming yarn but - by virtue of Mohammad Davoodi's wonderful cinematography and natural performances from a non-professional cast - offers an intriguing insight into contemporary Iran.

Tim Evans