Arquivo

In the north of the province of Khorasan, in eastern Iran, near to the frontier with Afghanistan, is a village , Delbaran. “Not such a long time ago, when people still had feelings such as ‘love’ and ‘hope’, when they were not yet seized by the fear of a war and the need for bread, lovers would arrange to meet in Delbaran”, says director Abolfazl Jalili, who followed closely on the transformations wrought on the site. And there, to the sound of the cannon shot on the other side of the mountains, Khan tends to an old bar, today a haunt for a mix of truck drivers, tradesmen of every sort, soldiers and, mainly, drug addicts and trafickers. Lonely Kaim, age 14, a young Afghan refugee also works there, mending trucks day after day, obliged to face the cruelty of the adult world. Although his life may appear as arid as the surrounding desert, Kaim sheds no tears. That may be the reason his rare smiles seem so special.