FADE IN:
INT. APARTMENT/HALLWAY DOOR - MORNING
The face of DARIUSH, a young Iranian boy of ten with brown
short hair, fair skin and big brown eyes stare at us through
a 1/2 open door.
The muted sound of Iranian music plays from somewhere
within the apartment.
Obscured a bit by the door frame Dariush watches his father
ALI, late forties, dark beard and brown eyes. As he moves
back and forth from dresser to his suitcase as he packs his
belongings. His clothes are casual, black slacks and a dark
blue polo shirt. His mother DORRI, forties, brown hair
pinned up. A few strands hang in her face. She holds a
tissue up to her face. She sits on the bed next to the
suitcase. She looks as though she has been crying.
Assorted family pictures are on display on the top of the
dark oak dresser. Clothes are strewn about upon the bed.
Ali picks up one of the pictures that rest on the dresser
and puts it in the suitcase. Ali sits on the bed next to
Dorri. Ali touches her hand then kisses her cheek he moves
back the few stands of hair that were in her face.
Dariush accidentally scrapes the door.
Dorri looks up to the door.
Dariush's eyes begin to well up as he watches his father
and mother.
DORRI
Whose there?
Suddenly Dariush turns and runs away from the door.
Ali walks to the door and opens it. He catches a glimpse
of Dariush running down the hallway.
INT. ALI'S APARTMENT - CONTINUOUS
Dariush runs down the hallway past the kitchen.
Dariush flings open the front door and runs out of the
apartment slamming the door shut behind him.
EXT. ALI'S APARTMENT - CONTINUOUS
Dariush almost runs into Fariba (40's) and Shaheen (40's)
who are walking up to the front door of his family's
apartment.
FARIBA
Dariush!
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2.
Dariush screams past ELIZABETH a woman who lives in the
apartment building who has her arms full of shopping bags.
She moves off the sidewalk onto the grass to avoid crashing
into Dariush and drops a few packages to the ground.
FARIBA (CONT'D)
What is he doing?
Dariush disappears into the distance.
INT. FRONT DOOR -- CONTINUOUS
Dorri wearing a green apron that reads "Kiss the Cook" now
stands at the front door with her sister Fariba and her
husband Shaheen.
FARIBA is a short woman in her mid forties. Her hair is
pulled back tight into a small bun onto the top of her head.
SHAHEEN her husband is slightly balding and has a thick
mustache. He appears to be in his late forties.
Dorri holds three year old LILLY in her arms. Lilly has a
small little yellow matching outfit on. Yellow small shorts
yellow shirt. The shirt reads "Kiss me Too"
FARIBA greets Dorri, kisses both her cheeks. Dorri grabs a
small bag of groceries from Fariba with her right hand while
still carrying Lilly in her left.
DORRI
Here, let me help.
SHAHEEN
Hello.
Shaheen moves in and kisses Dorri and both cheeks.
FARIBA
Get Ali to help you with the other
things in the car. Dariush past us
as he ran out.
Dorri shakes her head.
DORRI
Let's bring all this into the
kitchen.
INT. KITCHEN - AFTERNOON
They put all the groceries down. Fariba starts to take
things out of the bags.
Dorri walks over to the hallway and yells for Ali.
DORRI
Ali! Ali! Come help.
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3.
Dorri walks back into the kitchen. Shaheen walks out the
front door to the car.
EXT. APT. COMPLEX - AFTERNOON
Shaheen walks up to the trunk of his dark blue CRV. He
opens up the trunk. He pauses and lights up a cigarette as
some children run by him chasing each other and laughing.
Ali walks out of the front door toward him. Shaheen walks
up to him. They shake hands and kiss on both cheeks.
ALI
Hi.
Shaheen starts to grab some groceries, his cigarette in his
mouth dangling. Ali moves around to the other side of the
car to take some bags when Shaheen hands an envelope to Ali.
ALI (CONT'D)
What's this?
SHAHEEN
For you.
Ali puts the bags back down and opens up the envelope.
Inside the envelope Ali finds a thick stack of US $100.00
bills. He thumbs through the hundred dollar bills. Then
closes the envelope back up and hands it back to Shaheen.
ALI
Thank you very much, but I can't
accept this.
SHAHEEN
Please.
ALI
No I can't.
SHAHEEN
You must.
ALI
You embarrass me. I can't take
your money. Please. I don't know
what to do?
SHAHEEN
This is all a big mistake you'll
see. You'll be back before you know
it.
ALI
Mistake.
Ali shakes his head.
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4.
Shaheen reaches into his jacket and hands Ali a piece of
paper.
SHAHEEN
Take my sister's address.
Ali puts the paper with the address into his back pocket.
They grab the rest of the bags. Shaheen closes the back of
the car and they both head toward the front door.
EXT. A LARGE FIELD - DAY
Dariush runs in a large field. We follow beside him as he
jumps over tree limbs and weaves around bushes. He runs
faster and faster not slowing down. Then suddenly he trips.
He takes a nasty fall onto the ground. He picks himself up.
His palms are slightly bleeding. His chin is scraped up.
He walks over to a tree and sits under it.
A stray cat wanders near him. The cat looks beat up and
old. It pants hard.
DARIUSH
Hello. Come here.
The cat moves slowly, crawling on the ground. Dariush
moves over to it. As Dariush takes a closer look at the
cat, he can see that the cat looks as though it has been
injured. The car looks up to Dariush. Their eyes meet. He
lightly pets the cat's forehead. Dariush moves down to eye
level with the cat leaning his head to the ground using his
arm as a pillow. He watches the cat as it tries to breathe.
DISSOLVE TO:
INT. APARTMENT/DARIUSH'S BEDROOM - MORNING
Dariush sleeps soundly in his bed. The early morning sun
pushes into the room from some half open blinds over
Dariush's bed.
Ali slowly walks into Dariush's room he sits down on the
corner of his bed. He looks down to his son who is sound
asleep entwined with sheets. Dariush awakens, rubs his eyes
a bit then looks up to his father.
Dariush sits up straight in bed startled.
ALI
Get dressed and join me in the
workroom.
Ali gets up and walks out of the room.
Dariush looks as if he has done something wrong. He pulls
back the covers on his bed, he wears Captain America Pj's.
He slowly walks out of his bedroom.
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5.
INT. HALLWAY -- CONTINUOUS
Dariush walks into the bathroom shutting the door behind
him.
INT. ALI'S BEDROOM -- MORNING
Dariush slowly enters Dorri and Ali's bedroom, the sound of
someone sanding can be heard. The sound getting louder and
louder as he nears a halfway open door.
INT. WORKROOM - MORNING
The room which once was a walk in closet as been remolded
to act as Ali's workroom. We have stepped back into Iran.
A huge mural covers the far wall. The mural is of an open
window. The window looks out over lush field where large
tree stands next to a small house.
Family pictures are tacked to the wall in front of his work
bench. Next to the mural is a black and white picture of
the same image on the wall. The workbench is small and
rests lengthwise against the wall of the closet. Other
tools hang on hooks on the wall in front of the bench. A
dozen raw WOODEN TOPS are all perched on a shelf over the
work bench.
Dariush peeks his head into the workroom. Ali turns and
catches his son peeking in.
ALI
Sandpaper.
DARIUSH
Huh?
Ali points to a small bin of sandpaper under the workbench.
ALI
There.
Dariush walks into the room and grabs some sandpaper under
the work bench. Ali snaps his fingers.
ALI (CONT'D)
Wake up. Sand those. Come on!
Dariush picks up one of the tops and starts to sand it. He
watches his father who is sanding. Dariush starts to mimic
his father. Flakes of color from the sanding rain down like
snow onto their feet.
They both work in silence except for the sound of sanding.
Ali watches his son from the corner of his eye.
ALI (CONT'D)
Good. Good.
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6.
Ali observes his son. Dariush has moved closer to his
father. Ali puts his cigarette down and looks as though
he's about to tell Dariush something but hesitates. Dariush
coughs from his father's smoke. He tries to hold his breath
but can't.
Ali grabs the top from his son showing him how to do it.
ALI (CONT'D)
Be strong with it. Don't do this.
He mimics what his son was doing. Dariush watches his
father. Ali hands the top back to his son.
Dariush puts more pressure on the top this time. His
father reaches on a shelf above his head and grabs a top.
He avoids his son's gaze as he sets the top down on the
table next to Dariush.
Ali touches his son's head while nodding to him that he's
doing it right. Dariush stops for a moment and picks up the
top his father set on the table. Ali's sanding becomes fast
and furious.
Dariush touches the top. He runs his fingers over all the
crease and imperfections. The top is painted with bright
gold and reds with a blue line going all round the top. As
Dariush turns the top around he notices that his name is
carved into it. Dariush looks up to his father smiling.
Ali puts down his tools and puts is arm around his son
hugging him tight.
Dariush takes the top and spins it.
CLOSE UP:
The top spins furiously until it begins to wobble and
eventually falls over.
EXT. OPEN FIELD - EVENING
Dariush sits alone under a tree. He brushes himself off
and walks down a dirt embankment towards his apartment
building.
INT. KITCHEN - EVENING
Dorri and Fariba are cooking dinner together. Lilly helps
Fariba with cleaning the vegetables in a in the kitchen
sink. Shaheen walks in from down the hall.
FARIBA
Oh there you are. Here are some
plates.
Shaheen takes the plates. They exchange a look. Dariush
comes into the house.
Dorri sees him walk in.
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7.
DORRI
There you are. Help us set the
table.
DARIUSH
Gotta wash up first.
He shows his mother his hands, dirty and a bit bloody.
DORRI
What did you do?
DARIUSH
I fell.
DORRI
Go wash up.
INT. LIVING ROOM - EVENING
Place settings are set out for everyone. Serving bowels are
on the table brimming with hot food. Lamb, beef, eggplant,
fried spinach with yogurt, tomatoes, cauliflower. The food
itself is colorful.
Ali walks in and sits at the head of the table.
Dariush sits next to him. Dorri sits on the other side of
Ali. Lilly sits next to her mother and across from Dariush.
Shaheen and Fariba join the family at the table.
Dorri and Fariba start serving the food. Good portions for
everyone.
A large window frames the table facing out toward the front
of the complex. White sheer curtains diffuse the descending
sun. They each start eating in silence.
Dariush looks up to his father.
Ali taps on a glass getting everyone's attention.
ALI
I want to thank you. Thank you
Fariba and Shaheen for being her
tonight. Let's not dwell on the bad
but focus on the good. Thank you
Dorri and Fariba for this wonderful
food.
Ali toasts and they all take a drink.
Food passes back and fourth.
Through the white sheer curtains of the dinning room window
the silhouette of a van on the street parking outside the
apartment building can be faintly made out. The family
continues to eat.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8.
Two silhouetted figures walk from the van up the walkway to
the front door.
Suddenly there is a knock on the door.
The family all stops eating and talking. Ali looks over to
Dorri.
As Ali turns his head, Dariush sneaks a taste of his
father's wine.
Dariush watches as Ali stands up from the table. Dorri
stands with him picking up Lilly into her arms. They both
go to the door and open it.
Fariba and Shaheen stand up as well and walk over to the
door.
From a distance and a bit obstructed by the corner of a
wall Dariush observes his father opening the front door.
His father invites two men into the apartment.
Dariush sees the two men.
One man appears to be Persian the other looks to be Asian.
They both wear dark blue wind breakers with the letters INS
in yellow on the back and smaller on the front next to each
man's name: Andy Yen and Hamid Golbahari.
ANDY YEN
Ali Shiraz?
Dariush watches Ali nod. Dariush goes back and forth from
looking at his dinner plate and observing his reflection in
the plate and back up to his father.
HAMID GOLBAHARI
I'm sorry. We have to go.
Dariush looks back up and watches his father pick up his
bags that sit next to the front door waiting. Ali turns and
looks over to his Dariush. Dariush immediately looks back
down to his reflection.
Dorri starts to fix Ali's shirt collar.
DORRI
I'm trying not to cry. It's hard.
Dariush looks back up and sees his mother moving in and
hugging his father while holding Lilly. Dorri starts to
cry.
Fariba and Shaheen move over to console Dorri.
Dariush looks back down to his plate holding back his tears
as he hears his father speaking to his mother.
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9.
ALI
(collecting himself)
No tears. It will be okay.
Dariush looks back up at Fariba as she tries to move Dorri
off of Ali.
Dorri jerks and pulls away.
DORRI
No! Please!
FARIBA
Dorri.
ALI
It's going to be okay. You'll see.
FARIBA
Come on.
Dorri and Fariba embrace. Lilly starts to cry in Dorri's
arms.
Dariush looks out the big window at the van parked on the
street. He then turns back and meets his father's eyes.
Ali puts his bags down and walks over to his son who keeps
looking back to his plate. Ali bends down to his son's
level. Dariush looks at him and stares for a moment. He
reaches out and hugs his father tight. He starts to cry.
ALI
Take care of your mother and sister.
Dariush shakes his head "yes" while hugging his father.
Ali walks over to Lilly who holds her mother's hand. Ali
bends down and kisses her forehead.
Ali grabs his bags as the INS agents escort him out of the
apartment.
Dariush stands up from the table and walks over the window.
As Dariush pulls back the curtains he watches his father
being taken to the van. The van door slides open. They put
his suitcase and duffel in after him. He pauses for a
moment before and looks back at Dariush. Ali ducks down and
enters the van.
INT. VAN - CONTINUOUS
The van door is pulled shut. Ali watches Dariush through a
small tinted van window.
Ali's hands are pulled back and handcuffed.
FADE TO BLACK.
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