Gabbeh

1996

Farsi

Directed by: Mohsen Makhmalbaf

(75 mins) One of the most critically acclaimed films of the year, Gabbeh is an epic tale of the forbidden passion that shapes the legend of a magical carpet. A folkloric carpet (Gabbeh), picturing a man and woman riding away on horseback is the prized possession of a nomadic elderly couple. When they sit to wash it on the bank of a creek, a beautiful young woman suddenly emerges from the carpet to join them. Once held hostage by the endless restraints of the family that fashioned the carpet, she reveals the secret of the carpet lies within the mysterious black-clad rider on the white horse. Month after month, season after season, he had followed her family from afar, always present, always waiting, howling to her songs of love - longing for her to run away with him.

In Farsi with English subtitles.