No One Knows About Persian Cats

At 55 minutes long, the Behind The Scenes feature here is longer than most of its ilk - and it is also far more entertaining than the usual 'group hug' featurette that accompanies many Hollywood films.

Shot at the same time as the film was being made, it is full of fascinating location footage, which indicates just what a powerhouse of energy director Bahman Ghobadi is. If he isn't coaching non-professional actors through a scene line by line or cajoling schoolchildren to be quiet and play air guitar, he's having an argument in the street with a local who tells him he "can't shoot here".

The footage is interspersed with interviews with the technical crew and some of the cast, including the director. Ghobadi talks about the 'guerilla' nature of the shoot - which saw them just turn up and capture what they could on the day, which he insists was a liberating experience. He also doesn't pull any punches, when he insists many films about Iran are "completely artificial".

The difficulties of shooting 'on the fly' are beautifully illustrated by some wonderful shots of cinematographer Touraj Aslan, being pulled along in a wheelbarrow so that he can capture images of the central trio in the film riding a motorbike.

The only thing missing from the feature - well-handled by director Kavoos Aghaei - is any talk of the situation in Iraq both for musicians and filmmakers. Ghobadi is, following the making of this film, now living in exile and it's a shame his thoughts on this situation weren't captured either here (though it may well be that this was shot before had to quit the country) or elsewhere on this otherwise excellent DVD release.

The political situation is touched upon a little more in the accompanying brief interview with stars Ashkan and Negar, with the questions ranging from the soft inquiries as to what they are up to musically, much more heavyweight quizzing about the threat of jail for pop artists. A limited image gallery and trailer make up the release.