Les Beaux Lendemains de Téheran

Picking up the baton of Kiarostami and his compatriots, this apparently semi-fictional docu-drama charts the adventures of a French documentary unit recording the experiences of Iranian youth under the reformist Khatami government. Run-ins with old native friends and relatives, chance street encounters and quarrels among the crew occupy far more time than formal shooting (the 'real' video material is marked by a grainy blue tone), but while the format can be too tricksy for its own good, this is an eventful film, affably populated, that finds a sprinkling of small subtle insights into modern Iranian society. (Warning: the subtitles on the review tape were not outlined and often illegible.