When the Shah-era Ministry of Culture asked Ebrahim Golestan for a documentary on Iran’s crown jewels, they didn’t expect an acidic indictment of the regime’s politics. Previously released only in a diluted version, this vanguard masterpiece can now be seen for the first time in its unexpurgated original version. Ebrahim GOLESTAN (1922, Iran) grew up in a well-to-do family. He founded his own film studio, Golestan Films, in 1957. After meeting the controversial Iranian artist Forugh Farrokhzadher in 1958, he became a close associate hers. Inspired by her to pursue his own artistic vision, he began directing his own short documentaries. In 1965 he released his first feature, BRICK AND MIRROR. His second feature, THE SECRETS OF THE TREASURE OF THE FINN VALLEY (1974), would prove to be his last film: Golestan left Iran in 1975, settling in the United Kingdom and focusing completely on his writing.