Hemela Pourafzal

Winter. Somewhere between Tehran and Winnipeg. Negin and Nazgol find a sum of money frozen deep within the sidewalk ice and try to find a way to get it out. Massoud leads a group of befuddled tourists upon an increasingly-strange walking tour of Winnipeg historic sites. Matthew leaves his job at the Québec government and embarks upon a mysterious journey to visit his estranged mother.

A portrait of Hemela Pourafzal, the exuberant matriarch and owner of Byblos Le Petit Café, a staple Iranian restaurant nested in Montreal for more than 37 years, serving as a central meeting point for the Iranian diaspora and the local art scene. As Hemela reflects on the past eight decades of her adventurous life, we uncover her untold stories and that of Iranian women through the prism of her life.