"Delband"; A Documentary That Captivates the Audience from the First Moments

Amidst the hustle and bustle of the Berlin festival, a warm and heartfelt documentary titled "Delband" was showcased in the culinary section; a 60-minute film by Yaser Talebi about an eighty-year-old woman who is engaged in herding and makes a living by selling cheese, butter, and milk from her cows. From the very first moments, the film astonishes the viewer: this eighty-year-old woman is alone in the mountains taking care of her cows, having lost her husband ten years ago, and her eleven children have long since forgotten about her. Unlike typical documentaries, the film avoids narration by the filmmaker or an omniscient narrator, leaving everything to the visuals and the words of the elderly woman herself. We do not see her while she speaks; we only hear her voice over beautifully shot scenes that create a strange bond with nature. Thus, nature and the bond between humans and it become the film's main theme, emphasizing the passage of time through the depiction of autumn and winter, leading to the arrival of spring—a spring that signifies life and ultimately carries the elderly woman's praise for life: "I love life just as it has been." Animals, as part of nature, have a striking and moving presence in the film. This elderly woman clearly tells us that cows understand everything and that "she has never seen a human who understands her as much as the cows do." She has spent sixty years of her life alongside them, and now—against the advice of other villagers who want her to stop working and sell her cows—she states that retirement is equivalent to death for her, and if she does not go to the pasture and stays in the village, she will certainly become ill. The enthusiasm, energy, and simplicity of this woman engage the viewer from the very first moments with a character rarely seen, yet easy to empathize with. Her only apparent sorrow seems to be her children, who have long been out of touch with her. In one scene, she goes to a neighbor's house with a paper containing the phone numbers of her eleven children to call each of them. With a calculated and precise editing, we see her briefly speaking with each of them and expressing her disappointment. Their responses are about their busyness, and the mother's reply is: "Well, everyone is busy!" However, one of the film's most poignant scenes occurs when this elderly woman is forced to sell one of her cows and its calf. Initially, during the transaction scene—which takes place very simply and easily, free from the concerns of the financial world—we are astonished at how she is willing to sell them. We soon learn that she wants to send the money from their sale to one of her daughters who needs money for rent. The elderly woman talks to her cow like a human, telling it that she is selling it and that it will have another owner from now on. She then kisses it and sends it off with the new owner, with a look full of longing and a face that the viewer will never forget. The film's final scene creates a brilliant ending: we hear the elderly woman's voice asking the film's director to turn on the camera and go outside. The director, surprised, asks why, and eventually agrees. Amazingly, this traditional woman shares her will with the camera—a modern tool—; with tearful eyes that can easily overflow the viewer's tears, she asks her son not to sell the cows after her death.