ZIARAT (PILGRIMAGE)

Since the fall of Saddam, thousands of Iranian pilgrims risk their lives every day to visit the holy shrine of Imam Hussein in Iraqi Karbala, fifty miles south of Baghdad. For the Shiites, visiting the grave of the martyr Imam Hussein, grandson of the prophet Mohammed who died in the battle of Karbala in 681, it means almost as much as going to Mecca. Bahman Kiarostami (son of director Abbas) stationed a camera in the border city of Mehran, the main crossing point for the pilgrimage, to witness this historic event. Complete chaos reigns at the border as many people try to get through illegally. They hide under truck hoods or pretend to be exiled Iraqis without a passport. Others claim that they need to bury their relatives who have died in Iraq unexpectedly. Alongside the passionate Shiite devotion, a business has developed in Mehran offering the pilgrims what they might need to cross the border: truck transfers, faked papers, corruption… But the border crossing is also a deadly business. The pilgrims face the threat of mines, assassination, dehydration and starvation on the way. Bahman Kiarostami's beautiful camera does not take sides. It simply shows us this extraordinary phenomenon of faith as a part of Iranian culture and politics.

Award: Special Mention, Nantes 2004