The Silence

Shot in Tajikistan, this humanist, virtually non-narrative portrait of a ten-year-old blind boy (Tahmineh Normatova) who works as a musical instrument tuner to help pay the rent, after his father has deserted the family and travelled to Russia, is an ambitious attempt to evoke the rich sensual life – notably sound, but also touch and smell – of the vision-impaired while still working in a visual medium. This key Makhmalbaf Film House production offered significant production roles to Samira, Hana, Maysam and Marzieh, and was banned by the Iranian authorities.