Tashbad

Tashbad is the title of the first literary work by Dariush Gharibzadeh. We know Dariush Gharibzadeh in the field of cinema, especially short films; he is a well-known filmmaker who has earned numerous international honors such as the UNICA Silver Medal, the Grand Prize of the ECO Ethno Folk Festival in Romania, the Special Prize of Brno in Czech Republic, and more. His portfolio includes writing and directing important short films such as “Turtle,” “Blue Man,” “Boomerang,” and “Scar.” Gharibzadeh, however, has surprised us this time with his pen, in a different form. His stories mostly take place in southern Iran, especially in Bushehr, and offer a deep look into human and social phenomena. The attribute “short,” which is inseparable from Gharibzadeh in cinema, is also an integral part of his literature and stories. His stories are as short as possible yet rich in meaning and content. On average, each story is no longer than a thousand words. Gharibzadeh’s art lies in summarizing deep and extensive content through setting and brevity into a few sentences, which, like a cinematic image, stays in the reader’s eyes. This type of literature is known as “flash fiction,” where characters are described with short sentences and where not only words but also the rhythm and music of the prose play an important role in conveying the content. The stories in Tashbad are all polyphonic and simultaneously have subtle differences that come together with meticulousness. This phenomenon serves the stories and gives them an enchanting geographical identity unique to southern Iranian literature. Isolation and reference to human loneliness in the vastness of the world are other features of his story world, appearing in most stories, perhaps most notably in “Tito the Painter.” One of the constant elements of the southern literature school is the presence of animals within the story flow. In Gharibzadeh’s stories, this is also very evident, but Gharibzadeh’s important difference is that animals become characters in his stories and influence not only the content but also the plot development. Tashbad is an exceptionally important and admirable collection that is significant not only in terms of its content and southern color but also in its structure and form. It is a prominent example of a successful short story collection that can serve as a lesson for anyone. From this perspective, it is not wrong to say that Gharibzadeh the filmmaker is also a considerably good writer.