Trucker and the Fox

Sometimes, you come across a story that seems almost too perfect to be true. For example, Ranandeh Va Roobah: Mahmood Kiani Falavarjani is an Iranian truck driver and filmmaker whose experimental animal films were screened at international film festivals a few years ago. Now he has become obsessed with taming a fox and shooting a love story with donkeys. His wife no longer wants to share the house with a small zoo, and the trucking company boss is complaining about his poor work ethic. Only Falavarjani's psychiatrist believes in his talent, though he is battling against bipolar disorder and has already been hospitalised several times. It is in the hospital that Arash Lahooti begins this "making-of" of a planned animal film and a portrait of a persistent and likeable artist. The film observantly captures unforgettable scenes – during fox hunting, or a conversation between a film critic and Falavarjani after an open-air screening of his film. A beautiful and idiosyncratic plea for the right to fulfil artistic dreams.

Jenny Billeter