After a promising debut with A Trip to the Traveler’s Land (1994)—about the child actor from his father’s film Traveler, seen some twenty years later—Bahman Kiarostami returns with this charming documentary about professional mourners in Iran. With an understated documentary style, Tabaki presents not only an uncanny view of a peculiar profession within a religious society but an insightful portrait of that society itself.

With Abbas Kiarostami serving as producer, this documentary marks the directorial debut of the acclaimed Iranian actress Niki Karimi. While its title is evocative of a classic drama, To Have or Have Not examines the problems of childless couples in a traditional society like Iran’s, where infertility can be a serious threat to marriage.