GRIDAMI

Italy/Afghanistan, 2010, 70 minutes, Colour.
Directed by Razi Mohebi.

Gridami was made by a couple who were living in the Trent area of Italy. They have a background of migration from Afghanistan.

The film is poetic rather than narrative. It focuses on a worker in a factory in the area around Trent, the treatment by his fellow workers, the infidelity of his wife, the difficulties in being a refugee from Asia in a western European country. The film also focuses on his wife, her relationship with a local Italian, her attitude towards her husband. A number of other characters from the area, including the lover, a prostitute, workers are part of the framework of the film.

However, rather than telling the story, the film focuses on the characters, showing them in a range of situations. It also relies on symbolic photography, for instance sequences in an apple orchard, with the overtones of pomegranates being symbolic of Iranian and Afghanistan women.

The film is difficult for major audiences – but, with explanations, could be a useful poetic experience of the suffering of people who yearn for their place of origin, have to adapt to new situations, find human and relationship difficulties.