Shokoufeh, imprisoned for eight years in Iran, struggles to reconcile her difficult past with her identity as a Canadian. The young woman shows the director, Masoud Raouf, how to recreate, for the film set, the isolation boxes that were used for prisoners. She is also shown in her daily life as a Canadian student.

In 1992 a young Iranian student hanged himself on the outskirts of a small Ontario town. Having escaped the Ayatollah's regime and found a new home in Canada, he could not escape his past. News of the young stranger's death hit home with Masoud Raouf. He too was part of the generation who fought for democracy during the reign of the Shah. With The Tree that Remembers, Raouf assembled a group of Iranians - all former political prisoners like himself, who were active in the democratic movement. Blending their testimony with historical footage and original artwork, he honours the memory of the dead and celebrates the resilience of the living.