The Song of Nimevar
(SORUDE DASHTE NIMEVAR )

Mohammad Reza Moghadassian
Iran 1988 | 42 Min. | 16 mm, OmeU

The old man who is in charge of dis­trib­ut­ing water from the Nimevar Chan­nel to the inhab­i­tants, breaks down »Barema« dam each year to direct water to the river. The Chan­nel is well pre­pared for annual dredg­ing and the men gather from Nimevar and Bagher­abad vil­lages with their shov­els to do this hard task. At the end of dredg­ing, the old man is seated on the horse wear­ing a hat and army medals. He salutes the vil­lagers as they parade before him. This is the begin­ning of a feast at the end of dredg­ing. The annual feast is fin­ished with tra­di­tion­al cer­e­mo­ny of pass­ing the shov­els over the head. After the feast, some of the vil­lagers direct the water to the Chan­nel once again voluntarily.