Mohammad Gorjestani's The Shade is a beautifully filmed parable set in present-day Iran. A city man, Javad (Ebi Mohseni), has a blowout in a tiny settlement outside Tehran. There, he meets a boy, Amin (Aryan Atri), who's saving up the money he earns selling balloons to buy ice-cream. A fig seller, Parvaneh (Shaghayegh Mohammadali), gives Javad an umbrella, and he takes her place on the daytime bus out of town. Later, he returns to the town and learns that the sunrise bus Parvaneh was on crashed into a hillside. The film ends with a discussion Javad has with an old man (Shahryar Yamini) about the concept of chance.

Gorjestani's screenplay is a model of economy. Every scene is essential to the story's theme. His use of Iran's native language gives an air of authenticity to a production set in Iran but filmed in Vancouver. Mohammadali's expressive face gives the second half of the film a haunting quality as we learn of Parvaneh's fate.Atri is a natural performer and establishes a believable screen presence with the actor who plays his father, Ahmad Sharmru.

The Shade is a reserved Iranian-made film like Jafar Panahi's The Circle.It lacks the punk-rock style of Persepolis. But Gorjestani has opened another window onto this culture, and, given the geo-political issues of the day, we need as many as we can get.