‘A Band of Dreamers and a Judge’ Review: An Imbalanced Iranian Treasure-Hunting Doc About Its Own Making
variety.comSiddhant Adlakha A film that pivots around a court case about its own making, buried treasure documentary “A Band of Dreamers and a Judge” features hints of allure that eventually wane.
Shot in Iran, where unauthorized excavations remain illegal, Hesam Eslami’s chronicle of a group of treasure hunters is an occasionally intense process piece that often loses steam, especially during its attempts at intimate portraiture.
The movie’s grave-robbing subjects lead full and complex lives, but it seldom depicts them with the richness they deserve. Eslami’s framing device is unique.
The story begins with his cross-examination by a female judge, who questions his motives in filming footage a year prior, of a band of middle-aged friends obsessed with finding lost antiquities in the mountains of Savadkooh.
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