The shadow of imagination | Sāyah-i khīyāl | سایه خیال

Hossein Panahi is a writer and struggling poet. One night, in a moment of introspection, he conjures a character named Gholami, who then becomes a persistent presence in his life, akin to a shadow that follows him everywhere. One evening, Panahi and his friend join a poetry gathering. During the event, Hossein narrates tales about “Gholami.” Suddenly, the city experiences a power outage, and amid the chaos of an enemy airstrike, the gathering is abruptly interrupted. The following morning, authorities launch an investigation into a theft that occurred at the same venue, and they accuse Hossein Panahi of being an accomplice to Gholami, launching a search for him.