A feature debut of Mohammad Ahmadi, the director of the documentary Captive, Waiting presented at PIFF 2002. Written by Mohsen Makhmalbaf, the film deals with the growing-up story of an innocent 25-year-old cleaner, who comes to gain knowledge of the reality of his society through the garbage on the streets. The society is frustrating and hopeless: famous poet, who rejects his identity as poet and claims himself a cow, takes his own life with his own hands. young woman, facing a financial and mental crisis after her boyfriend is killed, struggles to get visa to visit her brother, but does not hear back from her brother nor the visa authority. The young cleaner falls in love with her and tries to help her move on with her life, but his good intentions are misunderstood as a scheme. Filled with poetic images and metaphors, the film both humorous and serious. The music of the Tajikistani composer Daler Nazarov, who composed music Luna Papa, brings a poignant sadness to beautiful images. Though the criticism of the hopeless society is aesthetically rendered, the director′s perspective is far from optimistic. His secret wish may be to discard a society that needs cleaners more than poets. (Michelle Sohn)