After many years living in Germany, Ahmad is on a flying visit to Iran. His old university friends decide to organise three days together on the banks of the Caspian Sea. One of the women in the group, the joyful Sepideh, has taken the planning in hand. Unbeknown to her colleagues she has invited Elly, her daughter’s nursery school teacher. Ahmad, having just disentangled himself from an unhappy German marriage, would like to settle down with an Iranian woman. Knowing this the friends gradually realise why Sepideh has invited Elly. Their attention turns to her and each one in turn lauds her qualities. On the second day, while everything seems to be going well, an incident occurs which leads to Elly’s disappearance. The joyful atmosphere evaporates and harmony breaks down as the friends try to understand how and why she disappeared. Elly’s family is contacted, but as they have no news of her, panic sets in. The friends start becoming judgemental and pick over the previous day’s conversations and Elly’s family phone calls, trying to find fault. Finally Sepideh is blamed for having invited Elly and thus ruining their holiday. The group’s opinions of Elly veer from those of the first day, until at last the truth is out.
Persian