Khamushiye darya

　　Settled comfortably in Sweden with his wife and two children, Siavash finds himself at middle age consumed with guilt for having abandoned his parents when he left Iran many years before. A hasty attempt to return finds Siavash stranded in the free port of Qeshm, a sort of island no-man's-land and departure point for smugglers, where the locals are as puzzled by this backwards-fleeing refugee as he is by their unfamiliar customs. Director Vahid Mousaian's second feature is an accomplished mix of allegory, understated drama and absurdist comedy filmed in a muted, detailed palate in the style of Iranian masters such as Kiarostami. Awarded Best Music (Asia-Pacific Film Festival) and Best Feature (Dubrovnik International Film Festival), and recipient of a Jury Prize at the Mannheim-Heidelberg International Film Festival, this tale of a worldly Iranian out of step among his more traditional countrymen illustrates the poignancy of the expatriate's condition. Although making use of specific locations, the film also has a broader resonance as a poetic reflection on life in exile.