Twenty

There are twenty days remaining before Mr. Soleimani closes his once-popular reception hall. Business is so bad that there are hardly any wedding receptions any more; only funerals. The burden of this situation has proven too much for Mr. Soleimani. He has become so curmudgeonly and so depressed that he's making himself ill. This throws his staff off-balance because, to most of them, the reception hall is not just a job, but a home; they've been working together so long that they're practically family. There's Faroukh, a one-armed cook, and his efficient wife Fereshteh, who alternates between helping him and taking care of waitress Firoozeh's child. Firoozeh is an attractive but distraught widow who has recently been kicked out of her home and carries her preschooler around at work all day. Bijan is a frustrated ex-con who would love to marry Firoozeh but has nothing to offer. Together, and in various ways, these workers plot to get Mr. Soleimani to change his mind about closing the reception hall. A realistic window into working-class Iran, TWENTY features one of Iran's most versatile actors, Parviz Parastuii, as the gruff Mr. Soleimani. (In Farsi with subtitles) – B.B.