From the moment village shepherd Eidok puts on trainers instead of sandals, it's clear he'd rather be anywhere other than this dusty corner of Iran. He's saving to pay a people- smuggler who promises to get him to his ultimate goal, the United Arab Emirates, but he needs more cash and so nags his father to get him a job at a road-building depot. When dad dies in an explosion, a blood feud escalates between Eidok's family and the engineer in charge, drawing in Eidok's Afghan refugee friend.
Michael Winterbottom's In This World offers a starker insight into what drives the poor to illegally flee their homeland, and Chinese movie Blind Shaft contains a stronger condemnation of Third World industrial safety. However, themes of injustice and loyalty are given a touching face in a strong, tight-lipped performance by Yar-Mohammad Damanipour.