“Eshk,” the word for “love” in Farsi, defies translation into western mystical vocabulary because it refers to both divine and earthly forms of love. Set against the dramatic backdrop of the Ashura holy days—when the Shi’as commemorate the martyrdom of Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Mohammed—the film explores the meaning of love among a cross section of Iran’s middle class. Constantly playing with perceptions of time and space, director Maryam Keshavarz brings to the screen the subtle shadings of love in an ancient culture in transition.  RD