A Spiritual Moment in Half Moon directed by Bahman Ghobadi
Many religious traditions recommend that people familiarize themselves with death before their own last day. Medieval Christian monks used to keep skulls on their desks while they worked on manuscripts. Buddhist monks were known to have slept in coffins to ponder the transitory nature of life. The contemporary spiritual writer Robert Fulghum in his book From Beginning to End, writes about spending an afternoon sitting on his grave site as a tactic for keeping death in focus.
In Half Moon, the elderly musician Mamo lies down in a coffin placed in the ground before he heads off on a long journey. It sets things in perspective for him and makes his own death a companion on the trip he takes with his sons.
