If you take anything with you into the new year, take this:
"Qaraar-é-Panjshanbé" is a short film by 20-year old Iranian film-maker Syed Raza Khardmand. The film was recently given an award at the Luxor Film Festival.
"Qaraar-é-Panjshanbé", loosely translated, means "Thursday's appointment" and refers to a common Persian practice of visiting the cemetery and offering prayers for departed loved ones on Thursdays, it being the weekend. Visitors often take dried fruits such as dates and share them with others at the cemetery.
I couldn't find a subtitled version of this film, but then it really doesn't need any.
For those intrigued by the verse recited by the gentleman in the video, it is from a ghazal by Khwaja Shams-ud-Din Muḥammad Ḥafeẓ-é-Shirazi, better known simply as Hafez - Iran's most celebrated poet.
Again, translated liberally, my Farsi is a tad rusty; the verse goes...
"If that Shirazi Turk takes my heart in her hand
I would trade Samarqand and Bukhara for her little mole
Oh saaqi! Give me that eternal wine for in Paradise
You'll never find the banks of Roknabad and the gardens of Mosalla"
Some notes:
Shirazi = from Shiraz in Iran. Hafez himself was born and lived all his life in Shiraz, the region once famed for the wine that bears its name.
Samarqand & Bukhara are historic places in modern day Uzbekistan known for their picturesque beauty.
Saaqi = Wine Bearer or if you like, Bartender.
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