Siyavosh at Persepolis tells the story of the Crown Prince of Iran, Siyavosh, who after a falling-out with his father leaves Iran and settles in Turan. There he marries the daughter of King Afrasyab and is killed in a plot by the king’s scheming and jealous son. The film combines this ancient story with documentary-style scenes of foreign tourists visiting the ruins of Persepolis in the present, creating a work in which past, future, present, legend, theater and a myriad of filmic forms are combined in a dense intertextuality.

Reza proposes marriage to Fatemeh...