A film that pivots around a court case about its own making, buried treasure documentary “A Band of Dreamers and a Judge” features hints of allure that eventually wane. Shot in Iran, where unauthorized excavations remain illegal, Hesam Eslami’s chronicle of a group of treasure hunters is an occasionally intense process piece that often loses steam, especially during its attempts at intimate portraiture. The movie’s grave-robbing subjects lead full and complex lives, but it seldom depicts them with the richness they deserve.
Eslami’s framing device is unique. The story begins with his cross-examination by a female judge, who questions his motives in filming footage a year prior, of a
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