Mr. Ghavamian walked into Ray’s Candy Store one night in 2014. As Mr. Alvarez made him a milkshake, he noticed a photograph of Mr. Alvarez proudly holding his certificate of naturalization. They started speaking Farsi, and Mr. Ghavamian discovered that Mr. Alvarez is from Tabriz, just like his father. “Metaphorically, I realized that our stories are the same,” he said. He started filming soon after.
