Zaqqum The Tree Of Hell

As an avant-garde and experimental Short Film, Zaqqum represents the life and thoughts of the bourgeoisie and working class of Iranian society. The people who work so hard and do anything to achieve a better life, but their beliefs are different from what they are. This inconsistency is the hell they live in and feed on. The short movie was inspired by three famous paintings in art history: Dante and Virgil in Hell by William-Adolphe Bouguereau, At Eternity’s Gate by Vincent van Gogh, and Wanderer above the Sea of Fog by Caspar David Friedrich. The film reconstructs these Masterpieces in the critical moments of the characters’ lives. Alpha is a single janitor who sleeps in his car at night. He recreates At Eternity’s Gate in the movie. Omega is a married migrant who works and lives in a building under construction with other workers. He plays The Wanderer above the Sea of Fog. They meet each other in an imaginary world, fighting for the vital necessities of life. They will finally revive the painting of Dante and Virgil in Hell together.