Bist (Twenty) (2009)

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A handful of people whose work has become their lives are forced to move on in this drama from Iranian filmmaker Abdolreza Kahan. Soleimani (Parviz Parastui) runs a combination restaurant and catering hall in Tehran, which has been in business for years. Soleimani's employees have been together long… More A handful of people whose work has become their lives are forced to move on in this drama from Iranian filmmaker Abdolreza Kahan. Soleimani (Parviz Parastui) runs a combination restaurant and catering hall in Tehran, which has been in business for years. Soleimani's employees have been together long enough that they feel a bit like a family, albeit a dysfunctional one; Faroukh (Ali-Reza Khamseh) is the cook who, despite the fact he only has one arm, is able to keep up with his work, thanks to the help of his wife Fereshteh (Fereshteh Sadr Orafai). When Fereshteh isn't busy assisting her husband, she's helping out Firoozeh (Mahtab Keramati), a waitress who can't afford day care and has to bring her young son to work each day, a situation made worse by the fact she's been evicted from her apartment. Bijan (Habib Rezaie) is a short-tempered waiter with a criminal past who has a soft spot for Firoozeh, but he's also looking for a place to live and has little to offer her and her child. When Soleimani's employees learn he's been talking to a real estate agent, they suspect bad news is coming, and soon he confirms their worst fears: business has been slow, and the fact the hall is hosting far more funerals than weddings is taking a toll on Soleimani, so he's decided to shut down his restaurant. With few job prospects and fewer places to go, what will the staff do when the restaurant shuts down in twenty days? Bist (aka Twenty) was an official selection at the 2009 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi