'Constant rhythm, constant sound. Never set foot above ground.' This is one of the nuggets of advice that Gretchen receives from her mother, while she embarks on her annual attempt at breaking her personal best of solving 77 crossword puzzles within a 24-hour period. This, she attempts while riding the subways around the boroughs of New York, finding the constant motion and noise an aid to her concentration. Her mother used to do the same thing, except she managed to complete 86 puzzles for two consecutive years. Gretchen is not only pushed to her own limits; she is also pitted against her mother.

The messages her mother leaves on her daughter's answer-machine serve as a chorus to the action. Gretchen, refusing to be deflected from her task, judiciously ignores the machine and also flees the one person who tries to interact with her.

New York-based Naderi, part of the Iranian New Wave of the 70s and onetime collaborator of Kiarostami, has crafted a lean, spare script that serves as an exemplar of New York Independent Filmmaking. Naderi locks into the sounds and rhythms of the city, orchestrating the disparate sounds and underscoring them with the visuals. At the centre of this matrix of sound and motion is Gretchen herself, like a ghost in the machine.