The Gardener | Baghban (2012)

Synopsis

The Gardener is a poetic film made using documentary-style techniques via the cameras of father and son who go to Israel to learn about a religion that they don’t know much about due to its taboo status in the country of both the filmmakers’ and the faith’s birth – Iran.

Mohsen Makhmalbaf follows a gardener who works at the Baha’i gardens to understand who he is and why he is there.



Meanwhile his son Maysam rejects the concept of religion all together and goes out to Jerusalem where he comes across the sacred sites of Jews and Christians where he finds many similarities with the Islamic society he grew up in.

The film questions the necessity of religious philosophy in this day and age and raises many questions from both angles through the two opposing characters. Throughout the film, questions are only asked, but no specific answers are given. It is left to the audience to think, reflect, search and find a satisfying and personal answer for themselves.

The Gardener follows the similar stylistic and thematic techniques included in Gabbeh (Iran, 1996) and Sokoot (Tajikistan, 1998).

Cast: Ririva Eona Mabi, Paula Asadi, Guillaume Nyagatare, Tjireya Tjitendero Juzgado, Ian David Huang, Bal Kumari Gurung

Read about this film

Country: United Kingdom | Israel
Language: English | Farsi
Color: Color
Runtime: 87 min.