Gold and Copper

A Tehran mullah‑in‑training struggles to care for his ailing wife and their children in this melodrama. The film presents a human face on Iran’s Muslim clergy through the story of a man forced by hardship to become a better husband and father. Seyed Reza has just moved with his family to Tehran so he can study the Qur’an, relying on his wife Zahra to look after their two young children and weave the intricate rugs that provide their income. One evening Zahra collapses and is taken to the hospital, where she is diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Unable to process the tragedy, Seyed must cook, change diapers, walk his daughter to school and take his toddler son with him to his classes, where peers and elders treat him with scorn. Over time Seyed learns to cope; his prayers and devotional studies acquire deeper meaning as he attends to nightly rug‑weaving work, getting through with a heavy…