Second Trip
(سفر دوم)

Sayed Raheem is a simple countryman, stubborn and headstrong. He has two sons and lives with his wife, younger son and father in law in a mountainous and rural village in Bamyan province. He collects wool from different parts of village and his father-in-law and wife spin it into yarn. Sayed Raheem’s eldest son has been working in Iran for seven years and sends money back home to his family every month via a local money changer in the village. But it is now three months since he sent any money. Neither has he called the family and his father is very worried. Local authorities inform Sayed Raheem of his son’s death and involvement in drug dealing. They hand him a bank bill to be paid to the Iran National Bank to recover his son’s body. Sayed Raheem hides the news from his family, and sets off with his younger son for Iran, intending to cross the border illegally. When crossing the border, they are captured by the Iranian border police, who keep the younger son hostage in exchange for a kilo of opium or its equivalent in money. Sad and disappointed, Sayed returns to the village to find the money. He has an old friend who has two wives and seven daughters but no son and who is preparing to get married for the third time hoping he will have a son. Although Sayed repeatedly asks his friend for the money, he replies that he needs money for the wedding and each time makes an excuse. Finally, Sayed Raheem kills his friend for the money. He is very worried and struggles to hide the body somewhere. He regrets killing his friend and is sorry for all his past wrongdoings. This causes him to think more deeply and brings about deep changes in him. He tries to conceal the body in different ways but eventually hides it in Band-e-Amir lake, far from village. When he returns home, he discovers that the police are looking for him. To free his younger son and escape from the village, he travels to the Iranian border. The father reaches the border to recover his son…