The plot of the procession is completely built on the display of a mourning ceremony consisting of several components. On the screen appears a procession of men carrying a tabut (funeral stretcher) on which lies a body wrapped in a traditional white shroud. The procession of men rhythmically replaced by the image of a crowd of women weepers. Dressed in black robes, they grieve furiously for the loss. Their movements are synchronized, the sounds of lamentations are piercing and heartbreaking. In general, the aestheticized short film by S. Neshat resembles a theatrical action and may seem overly intricate to the unsophisticated viewer, but “the facts of the existence of the funeral rite indicate that over time it was saturated with elements of a theatrical action in which singers, musicians and declamators participated.” The most emotionally effective was the art of mourners, which evoked the awareness of irreparable loss and grief in those present. With the advent of Islam, this ancient ritual was integrated into a different religious and cultural environment, and the theme of mourning will take a firm place in Shia poetry. [Guseynova 2004: 163].
The existence of a certain theatricality during the funeral can be found in the modern urban culture of Iran. Eyewitnesses describe: “...The process of mourners is headed by a specially hired professional rose Khan, he has a microphone in his hand, he reads a prayer. Rose Khan tightens a funerary song about the jasmine bush - the woman who planted him has died. She is not with us, but when the bush blooms, the fragrance reaches her soul, like the memory of the good deeds of herself and her descendants. Tears appear in the eyes of mourners as they hear the refrain over and over again: "Where is she now?" [Kutlaki 2011: 169].
So, the drawing of the procession crowns the unexpected appearance in the foreground of a little girl sitting behind a stone hedge, who, apparently, personifies the continuation of life. It is noteworthy that the girl dressed in contrast to the rest of the procession participants in white, which is most likely not accidental in the image system of the film. Acts against the religious Sunnah include gathering in sympathy and wearing black or blue mourning clothing. [Goldzier 1938: 145]. However, this injunction did not take root in the Iranian environment, even despite the fact that “the Zoroastrians of Iran color mourning clothes white [not black].” [Hismatulin, Kryukova 1997: 102]. Thus, for centuries, the popular manifestation of grief was in opposition to the rules of the dominant religion.
The girl folds from stones something like a tower with a hole or a well and puts matte-white twigs inside. This artistic image visually resembles dahma, a Zoroastrian bone storage, with human bones. To top it all off, a flame suddenly breaks out, which rings the mourning procession of men and mourners, closing the chain of birth and death into a single whole. Fire is the most important element in the image system of Iranian art, since ancient times known for its fire and solar symbolism.