Inner City

“At some point,” Rafael tells Arzu, “people walk together … and then their ways part … each destined to follow the labyrinth of their own inner city …” Arzu, a young girl growing up in contemporary Azerbaijan, falls in love with Rafael, her piano teacher’s son, a veteran of the Karabakh War. Twice her age and unable to escape from the ravages of war, Rafael is forced to live on the edge of a society that sees him as a ‘cripple.’ Arzu, desperate to escape from the same repressive society which confines women to a strict, narrow path, chooses Rafael over her family and friends – but threatened by Arzu’s mother, and guided by the wisdom born out of his own brokenness, Rafael makes the supreme sacrifice of love …