The Charcoal Alley (1998)

Overview

Behind the hostel and bustle of shopping malls in Tajrish, a bazaar in north of Tehran, where the old meets the new, there is an old street where time seems to have stopped. Here is Koocheh Zoghali (Charcoal Alley) with its old school public bath, the second hand shops with all sorts of bric- a- brac and only one actual charcoal shop remaining from the old days. Above them all is a huge crane casting its shadow on the street like a giant about to devour the old narrow alley. In the sound interviews, one of the shop keepers predicts a future. He describes an image of chaos, protests and riots. Only few month passes and as I am editing the film, those imagined images come true in streets. The sound of real chaos from the streets in October 2019 sits right after the sound of prediction few months ago. When you shoot, you never know what might come true and what not.

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