The Tenant

In this combination of a nature film and a metaphorical documentary, the peace of two magpies is disturbed by the arrival of chainsaws and excavators: their nest is destroyed when the trees are cut down and woodchips fly everywhere. Accompanied by dramatic music, the isolated female looks for another shelter and finds one with an artist who paints a new, man-made background for her. Iranian director Mahmood Kiani Falavarjani, currently employed as a truck driver transporting cement, took two years to make this short, empathetic documentary without any dialogues or ostentatious symbolism, which is ‘dedicated to nature lovers’.