Fruits of Despair

While making a documentary about the Palestine-Israel conflict, an Iranian filmmaker is abruptly drawn into war when violence erupts in his own country. Forced to flee Tehran with his family, he finds temporary refuge in a suburban home, where daily life collapses into uncertainty and waiting.
Over twelve tense days, the film transforms from an analytical essay into a self-reflective diary shaped by displacement, fear and observation. Through fragments of news, personal recordings and quiet moments of reflection, the filmmaker documents not only the unfolding war but also his own psychological and emotional struggle.
As he revisits the story of his original subject, an unsettling parallel emerges; his present circumstances mirror the experiences of his subject forty years earlier. The boundary between observer and participant dissolves and the work becomes a meditation on survival, exile and identity. Rather than simply recording events, Fruits of Despair explores how conflict reshapes life, memory and authorship, examining both personal and collective histories caught between war and reflection.

Nima Nassaj is a Tehran-based filmmaker. Following a career as a cinematographer, he began directing in 2019, developing a multidisciplinary practice across fiction, documentary and video art. His work explores identity, memory and human isolation, investigating the intersection of personal and collective histories. In 2025, he founded the Blue Bird Film Archive to preserve and reinterpret archival materials. By blending visual anthropology with cinema, Nassaj crafts intimate portraits of Iran’s modern history and the universal human experience.

Director Nima Nassaj. Screenplay Nima Nassaj. Cinematography Nima Nassaj. Editing Nima Nassaj. Sound Design Mahour Mirshakak. Producer Nima Nassaj. Co-Producer Mahshid Afzali. Art Director Ali Baghernezhad. Production company Nima Nassaj (Teheran, Iran).

World sales Raina Film Festival Distribution

Films: 2019: زیرنورماه / Under The Moonlight. 2021: درباد / In The Wind. 2023: دهمتریچندم؟ / On Which Crossroad?. 2024: خانهمیاندرختاننارنجاست / A House Among Orange Trees. 2026: میوههایملال (Forum Expanded 2026).