The Tree that remembers (D)

In 1992 a young Iranian student and an ex-prisoner of war under the Ayatollah’s regime during the 80’s, hanged himself on the outskirts of a small town in Canada. Director Masoud Raouf, also an ex-prisoner under the Ayatollah regime has sought to address and understand the inherent long-term issues surrounding the survival of ex-political prisoners and asylum seekers, raising issues of cultural integration and disparity between Western cultures and refugees generally whilst giving air to subjects usually silent within Western communities. A group of former prisoners in Iran elucidate on their personal experiences describing the horrors of torture and imprisonment and the means in which they survived spiritually throughout their detainment. “Boxing” a form of solitary confinement is described in detail with its psychological effect - a form of torture that mimics the corpse in order to break the spirit.