In Iran, homeless street people are known as "the cardboard box sleepers." With compassionate irony, The Unseen (Kaghaz-pareh ha) uses the same humble medium to tell truths too harsh to be spoken face-to-face. Graphic artist and documaker Behzad Nalbandi spent five years preparing and editing the film, a remarkably intimate portrait of five unfortunate women living in a shelter in Tehran that gets under the skin. Yet none of them appears on screen. Their recorded voices fill the mouths of animated figures, creating a distancing effect that makes their sad stories palatable and, dare one say, novel for audiences who would give straight documentary a pass. Running just over an hour, this unusual animated doc reveals an uncomfortable reality normally hidden from view, and its premiere at the Fajr Film Festival should be followed by plenty of festival dates.
—behnishal