Using documentary-style footage, The Tree of Life is a poetic tale which takes place in the Talesh mountain region of northern Iran. Director Farhad Mehranfar, a veteran of numerous documentaries on mountain people, offers audiences a view of the lives and legends of the Talesh mountain people using beautiful imagery. A Talesh girl′s voice-over is poetry in itself. This film can be considered Mehranfar′s definitive piece to date, incorporating elements of the many shorts and documentary films he has made on Iran′s mountain regions. He has depicted the lives of mountain children in The Girl of Anemone Mountains and Children of Ashes; provided a study of mountain goats in Lambs are Born in Snow and in Talesh, gave audiences an earlier introduction to the customs of the Talesh. As the most recent addition to a body of work reflecting a deep love of the mountain region, Mehranfar′s latest film gives us every reason to refer to him henceforth as the ′director of the mountains.′ (Kim Ji-Seok)