When Dreams Never Retire: ‘‘Dreamful’’ and the Art of Living

Some films seek to provoke, others to thrill but Dreamful by Sarko Meene and Vahan Khachiyan does something rarer: it breathes. Like a ripple over still water, this poetic short documentary drifts through the life of Farhad Bakhtiar, an 80-year-old Persian art collector with the soul of a dreamer and the heart of a builder. What does it mean to live a life rich in beauty, love, and creation? What does it mean to keep dreaming, even when time whispers otherwise?

The film follows Farhad as he embarks on an audacious new chapter—transforming the Greek island of Chiliomodi into a sanctuary for artists and pilgrims alike. This is no grandstanding venture, no billionaire’s playground. It is an act of devotion, a gentle rebellion against time itself. With his longtime friend, the artist Fereydoun Ave, Farhad explores the island for the first time, his enthusiasm undimmed by age or uncertainty.

Visually, Dreamful is exactly that—dreamlike. The cinematography is a painter’s brushstroke, capturing the Aegean’s vast serenity, the sunlit textures of stone and water, the intimacy of a life well-lived. The score sways between melancholic and uplifting, much like Farhad’s musings on existence. And his narration? A treasure trove of wisdom, woven from decades of exile, peace, loss, and renewal.

Yet, for all its charm, Dreamful is not without its indulgences. Its pacing meanders like a wandering thought, lingering at times in moments that don’t fully crystallize. The slow-motion sequences, while poetic, occasionally feel overdrawn, as if the film itself is reluctant to move forward. And for all its philosophical musings, some ideas remain too ethereal, too vague to truly sink in.

But perhaps that’s the point. Life is not a neatly structured story, it’s a series of moments, reflections, and unfinished ideas. And Dreamful embraces this ambiguity with a rare and tender courage.

By the time the credits roll, one question lingers: if Farhad, at 80, is still daring to create, to dream, to build—what’s stopping the rest of us?

This is a debut that whispers rather than shouts, but its echo lingers. Whatever Sarko Meene and Vahan Khachiyan dream up next, it will be worth watching.