The perspective of a child. Unspoiled, unassuming, and uninfluenced by the horrors that be. That is the lens that Majid Majidi presents the audience with while embarking on this heartfelt tale that is the celebrated Iranian director's crowning achievement. A modest and understated narrative brought to life by a heavy message carried on by the tiny shoulders of its lead child actors, with their exemplary showing of grit and grace in the face of poverty and neglect. “Children of Heaven” nabbed Iran its first Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film and is a classic example of Iranian cinema's prowess in delivering pictures with a moralistic backbone.
from Imprint by clicking on the image below
Ali (Amir Farrokh Hashemian) patiently waits at the cobbler's shop as the wizened hand of the craftsman mends his sister, Zahra's (Bahareh Seddiqi) pair of pink shoes. The little man,...
from Imprint by clicking on the image below
Ali (Amir Farrokh Hashemian) patiently waits at the cobbler's shop as the wizened hand of the craftsman mends his sister, Zahra's (Bahareh Seddiqi) pair of pink shoes. The little man,...
- 12/8/2023
- by Leon Overee
- AsianMoviePulse
Click here to read the full article.
For the first time in Oscar history, three Persian-language films are up for the Academy Award for best international feature. Alongside Iran’s official entry, Houman Seyyedi’s darkly comic World War III, Denmark has submitted serial killer drama Holy Spider from Iran-born, Copenhagen-based Ali Abbasi. Britain’s hopes, meanwhile, lie with Winners, a tragicomic tale about (of all things) a missing Oscar statue, from director Hassan Nazer, another Iranian expat, who lives in Scotland.
Taken together, the trio of movies represents the breadth of Iranian cinema, within the country and among the filmmaking diaspora.
Winners is Nazer’s love letter to his country’s filmmakers. Dedicated to Iranian directors Abbas Kiarostami, Asghar Farhadi, Majid Majidi and Jafar Panahi, it is jam-packed with references to and quotes from other Farsi films, among them Panahi’s Taxi and Majidi’s Children of Heaven and...
For the first time in Oscar history, three Persian-language films are up for the Academy Award for best international feature. Alongside Iran’s official entry, Houman Seyyedi’s darkly comic World War III, Denmark has submitted serial killer drama Holy Spider from Iran-born, Copenhagen-based Ali Abbasi. Britain’s hopes, meanwhile, lie with Winners, a tragicomic tale about (of all things) a missing Oscar statue, from director Hassan Nazer, another Iranian expat, who lives in Scotland.
Taken together, the trio of movies represents the breadth of Iranian cinema, within the country and among the filmmaking diaspora.
Winners is Nazer’s love letter to his country’s filmmakers. Dedicated to Iranian directors Abbas Kiarostami, Asghar Farhadi, Majid Majidi and Jafar Panahi, it is jam-packed with references to and quotes from other Farsi films, among them Panahi’s Taxi and Majidi’s Children of Heaven and...
- 12/13/2022
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
A release is set for early 2023.
Modern Films has picked up the UK entry for the Oscars’ international feature film category, Winners, for UK-Ireland distribution.
It is written and directed by Aberdeen-based Iranian director Hassan Nazer, and produced by Scotland’s Paul Welsh of Edge City Films and Nadira Murray of Sylph Productions, with backing from Screen Scotland.
The drama, shot entirely in Iran using Farsi dialogue, premiered at Edinburgh International Film Festival, where it won the audience award, ahead of clinching the best UK feature prize at Raindance. It boasts two Bifa nominations, including breakthrough producer for Murray, and...
Modern Films has picked up the UK entry for the Oscars’ international feature film category, Winners, for UK-Ireland distribution.
It is written and directed by Aberdeen-based Iranian director Hassan Nazer, and produced by Scotland’s Paul Welsh of Edge City Films and Nadira Murray of Sylph Productions, with backing from Screen Scotland.
The drama, shot entirely in Iran using Farsi dialogue, premiered at Edinburgh International Film Festival, where it won the audience award, ahead of clinching the best UK feature prize at Raindance. It boasts two Bifa nominations, including breakthrough producer for Murray, and...
- 11/28/2022
- by Mona Tabbara
- ScreenDaily
The perspective of a child. Unspoiled, unassuming, and uninfluenced by the horrors that be. That is the lens that Majid Majidi presents the audience with while embarking on this heartfelt tale that is the celebrated Iranian director’s crowning achievement. A modest and understated narrative brought to life by a heavy message carried on by the tiny shoulders of its lead child actors, with their exemplary showing of grit and grace in the face of poverty and neglect. “Children of Heaven” nabbed Iran its first Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film and is a classic example of Iranian cinema’s prowess in delivering pictures with a moralistic backbone.
on Amazon by clicking on the image below
Ali (Amir Farrokh Hashemian) patiently waits at the cobbler’s shop as the wizened hand of the craftsman mends his sister, Zahra’s (Bahareh Seddiqi) pair of pink shoes.
on Amazon by clicking on the image below
Ali (Amir Farrokh Hashemian) patiently waits at the cobbler’s shop as the wizened hand of the craftsman mends his sister, Zahra’s (Bahareh Seddiqi) pair of pink shoes.
- 11/3/2022
- by Leon Overee
- AsianMoviePulse
Exclusive: Other Angle Pictures is launching sales on the crime thriller Double Down South, starring Sons of Anarchy actor Kim Coates. Other Angle will present the completed film to buyers at AFM next month.
Written and directed by Tom Schulman, the film is set in the high-stakes world of keno gambling where Nick (Coates), a keno-veteran, runs an illegal keno parlor from a run-down plantation house. One day Diana, a smart, tough newcomer, charms Nick into taking her under his wing. They prepare to risk it all to defeat the world champion, but soon find themselves in much more danger than they ever imagined.
The film debuted at the Newport Beach International Film Festival earlier this month. Lili Simmons (Banshee) and Justin Marcel McManus (Power Book II: Ghost) star alongside Coates. Producers include Rick Wallace, Sara Sometti Michaels, and Seth Michaels. Cinematography is by Alan Caudillo, editing is by Yang Hua Hu,...
Written and directed by Tom Schulman, the film is set in the high-stakes world of keno gambling where Nick (Coates), a keno-veteran, runs an illegal keno parlor from a run-down plantation house. One day Diana, a smart, tough newcomer, charms Nick into taking her under his wing. They prepare to risk it all to defeat the world champion, but soon find themselves in much more danger than they ever imagined.
The film debuted at the Newport Beach International Film Festival earlier this month. Lili Simmons (Banshee) and Justin Marcel McManus (Power Book II: Ghost) star alongside Coates. Producers include Rick Wallace, Sara Sometti Michaels, and Seth Michaels. Cinematography is by Alan Caudillo, editing is by Yang Hua Hu,...
- 10/26/2022
- by Zac Ntim and Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
The film premiered at Eiff where it picked up the audience award.
The UK has submitted Hassan Nazer’s Winners as its entry for best international feature at the Oscars.
Set in a small Iranian village, the film follows two kids who go on an adventure to find the owner of a gold statuette they’ve discovered.
Winners had its world premiere at Edinburgh International Film Festival (Eiff) where it picked up the audience award.
‘Winners’: Edinburgh Review
It was produced by Scottish-based companies World Film Productions and Sylph Productions in association with Edge City Productions, and shot in...
The UK has submitted Hassan Nazer’s Winners as its entry for best international feature at the Oscars.
Set in a small Iranian village, the film follows two kids who go on an adventure to find the owner of a gold statuette they’ve discovered.
Winners had its world premiere at Edinburgh International Film Festival (Eiff) where it picked up the audience award.
‘Winners’: Edinburgh Review
It was produced by Scottish-based companies World Film Productions and Sylph Productions in association with Edge City Productions, and shot in...
- 10/19/2022
- by Ellie Calnan
- ScreenDaily
Click here to read the full article.
The British Academy has selected Winners, the Farsi-language drama from British-Iranian writer/director Hassan Nazer as the U.K.’s submission for next year’s international feature award at the Oscars.
Fully financed in Scotland with support from Creative Scotland and qualified British through the cultural test, Winners was shot entirely in Iran with 100 percent Farsi dialogue and was post-produced in Scotland. It premiered at the Edinburgh International Film Festival in August this year, where it won the audience award.
Set in a poor Iranian village where the children work hard to support their families, Winners follows nine-year-old Yahya and his friend Leyla, wo one day find a precious statuette in the desert. As the authorities search for the lost treasure, sharing a passion for cinema, Yahya’s boss Nasser Khan decides to help the children find its owner.
Written and directed by Aberdeen-based Nazer,...
The British Academy has selected Winners, the Farsi-language drama from British-Iranian writer/director Hassan Nazer as the U.K.’s submission for next year’s international feature award at the Oscars.
Fully financed in Scotland with support from Creative Scotland and qualified British through the cultural test, Winners was shot entirely in Iran with 100 percent Farsi dialogue and was post-produced in Scotland. It premiered at the Edinburgh International Film Festival in August this year, where it won the audience award.
Set in a poor Iranian village where the children work hard to support their families, Winners follows nine-year-old Yahya and his friend Leyla, wo one day find a precious statuette in the desert. As the authorities search for the lost treasure, sharing a passion for cinema, Yahya’s boss Nasser Khan decides to help the children find its owner.
Written and directed by Aberdeen-based Nazer,...
- 10/19/2022
- by Alex Ritman
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Iran-born but UK-based Hassan Nazer’s fifth feature is set up as a children’s movie, but is essentially a tribute to Iranian cinema as much as a disillusioned look at what happens after the movie festivals, as a concept, end.
Winners is screening at Edinburgh International Film Festival
The film begins with a woman entering a taxi, before she gets out for a moment in a road filled with traffic. The police almost immediately arrive, forcing the driver to move, but after he circles and returns, the woman is nowhere to be found, and even more, there is a golden statue left in the passenger seat. It is actually an Oscar, but the driver has no clue about it, eventually leaving it in the local post office, where an elderly postal worker, thinking it is a doll of sorts, hides it in his bag and takes it to his village.
Winners is screening at Edinburgh International Film Festival
The film begins with a woman entering a taxi, before she gets out for a moment in a road filled with traffic. The police almost immediately arrive, forcing the driver to move, but after he circles and returns, the woman is nowhere to be found, and even more, there is a golden statue left in the passenger seat. It is actually an Oscar, but the driver has no clue about it, eventually leaving it in the local post office, where an elderly postal worker, thinking it is a doll of sorts, hides it in his bag and takes it to his village.
- 8/19/2022
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
The sales outfit previously represented Iranian filmmaker Majid Majidi’s feature debut ‘Baduk’.
Paris-based Celluloid Dreams has boarded international sales rights to Majid Majidi’s Sun Children, ahead of its world premiere in competition at the 77th Venice Film Festival (September 2-12).
The French sales firm previously handled the Iranian director’s feature debut Baduk, which screened in Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes in 1992.
His latest feature centres on 12-year-old Ali and his three friends, who take small jobs and commit petty crimes to make fast money. When Ali is entrusted to find some underground “hidden treasure”, he recruits his gang to help.
Paris-based Celluloid Dreams has boarded international sales rights to Majid Majidi’s Sun Children, ahead of its world premiere in competition at the 77th Venice Film Festival (September 2-12).
The French sales firm previously handled the Iranian director’s feature debut Baduk, which screened in Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes in 1992.
His latest feature centres on 12-year-old Ali and his three friends, who take small jobs and commit petty crimes to make fast money. When Ali is entrusted to find some underground “hidden treasure”, he recruits his gang to help.
- 7/28/2020
- by 1100453¦Michael Rosser¦9¦
- ScreenDaily
In the political discourse, when a country addresses another, whether in positive or negative terms, such statements often fail to differentiate between said country’s government and its people, between the government’s policies and the people’s unheard sentiment towards these.
While useful in the theoretical realm in which politics take place, these generalizations create a distorted image of the foreign nation fed by assumptions and dangerously insensitive stereotypes. It’s much easier for rulers to justify their actions if the adversary is made out to look like an irredeemable villain. Sensationalism and ignorance are weapons far more destructive than missiles, because once the smoke dissipates hatred remains.
On that note, it should be clear that the Iranian people are not the Iranian government. Their rich cultural history is not reflected in the actions of those in power, but in the prevailing elegance and allure of their artwork. Remarkable poets, musicians, painters, and, what we are mostly concerned with here, filmmakers.
The history of Iranian cinema is vast and has survived the many transitions and troubling periods the country has experienced. Even more impressive is the fact that as masterfully as Iranian filmmakers and actors understand the medium, they have never watered down their individuality for the sake of mainstream international success. Instead, they’ve managed to create their unique cinematic language that aligns with their idiosyncrasies and that is not silenced despite the hardships they face, but finds a way around censorship or defies it altogether.
Certainly not a definitive list, the following collection of films aims to be an introduction to the compelling and diverse voices within this captivating national cinema and to encourage you to seek out other films in the future. There are films here that are concerned with rural and working class lifestyles, others that focus on the traditions of ethnic minorities, those that deal with the modern middle class, and also several works denouncing the country’s political situation and the oppression that comes with it.
There are also some films that are note worthy even if they don’t easily fit within the parameters of what an Iranian film is.
Special Mentions:
-Iranian-American director Ana Lily Amirpour and her outstanding Farsi-language debut “A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night,” a visually striking vampire story set in a fictional Iranian town.
-American filmmaker Till Schauder and his documentary “The Iran Job,” which follows Kevin Sheppard, an American professional basketball player in Iran, and uses his experience to build cultural bridges between the two countries.
-Farhadi’s “The Past,” which though is not precisely an Iranian story, continues to show the director’s specific talent for greatly written, puzzling narratives both in his home country and abroad.
-Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud's “Chicken with Plums,” a gorgeously whimsical and darkly comedic love story set in pre-revolutionary Tehran starring Mathieu Amalric.
Lastly, in honor of Nowruz or Persian New Year, which is a peaceful celebration of renewal and rebirth that takes place from March 20-24 in Iran and Iranian communities around the world, let’s remember the deeply moving and wise words that Asghar Farhadi gifted us during his acceptance speech on Oscar night a few years back. No one could have said it better than him.
“At this time many Iranians all over the world are watching us, and I imagine them to be very happy. They are happy not just because of an important award, or a film, or a filmmaker, but because at a time in which talk of war, intimidation, and aggression is exchanged between politicians, the name of their country, Iran, is spoken here through her glorious culture, a rich and ancient culture that has been hidden under the heavy dust of politics. I proudly offer this award to the people of my country, a people that respect all cultures and civilizations and despise hostility and resentment. Thank you so much.” –Director Asghar Farhadi after winning the Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award for “A Separation” on February 26, 2012
1. "About Elly" (2009)
Dir. Asghar Farhadi
In Farhadi's tense psychological drama a casual trip to the sea evolves into a subtly plotted mystery. The director's depiction of the Iranian middle class in such a fascinatingly unexpected story connected with both local and international audiences earning him awards at home and abroad, among them Berlin's Silver Bear.
*The Cinema Guild will release the film theatrically on April 17, 2015
2. "Baran" (2001)
Dir. Majid Majidi
Taking a look at the diverse ethnic groups that coexist in Iran, the film follows a love story between a man and a young Afghan woman who must pretend to be a man in order to work. Eliciting truly naturalistic performance from his cast Majidi gives voice to his almost silent protagonist, a woman caught up in a system designed by men.
*Available on Netflix Instant Watch
3. "Children of Heaven" (1997)
Dir. Majid Majidi
Iran's first ever Academy Award nominated film is also Majidi's most renowned work. Innocence permeates this sweet story about two siblings from a working class family trying to find a pair of missing shoes. Their adventure delivers valuable life lessons that are at once heartwarming and profound. Unquestionably a classic.
*Available on Netflix Instant Watch and on DVD from Lionsgate
4. "Closed Curtain" (2013)
Dir. Jafar Panahi & Kambuzia Partovi
In this enigmatic observation on repression and surveillance an anonymous screenwriter, played by co-director Kambuzia Partovi, hides with his dog in a secluded location. Eventually, as other surprising characters appear, the film becomes a complex dance between reality and fabrication. Both filmmakers had their passports confiscated by the Iranian government due to the subversive content of the film.
*Available on Amazon Instant Video
5. "Close-Up" (1990)
Dir. Abbas Kiarostami
In one of the greatest examples of reality and fiction blending in almost seamless ways, Abbas Kiarostami's masterwork poses complex questions about identity. When a film buff impersonates his favorite director, who happens to Mohsen Makhmalbaf , a series of events unravel as he plans his next, fake, film. Surreally enough the film is based on a true story and stars the actual people involved. It's all brilliantly meta.
*Available on Blu-ray & DVD from Criterion
6. "The Color of Paradise" (1999)
Dir. Majid Majidi
Though rejected by his father, a young blind boy rejoices in nature’s beauty and tries to understand the meaning of his struggles with the help of a mentor with the same condition. Showcasing Iran’s visually stunning rural landscapes and delicately embedding with philosophical concerns, Majidi’s poetic film delivers wisdom in wondrously unassuming ways.
*Available on DVD from Sony Pictures Classics
7. "The Cow" (1969)
Dir. Dariush Mehrjui
Considered a turning point in the nation’s cinematic history, this black-and-white work revolves around a man’s devotion for his cow and how its disappearance drives him into madness. While seemingly simple in its conception, Mehrjui manages to compellingly highlight the country’s traditional lifestyles.
*Available on DVD from First Run Features
8. "Fireworks Wednesday" (2006)
Dir. Asghar Farhadi
Intimate conflicts in the Iranian middle class are Farhadi’s expertise and this domestic drama, set fittingly during the celebrations prior to the Persian New Year, is no exception. When a soon-to-be bride in need of money for her wedding gets a job cleaning a family’s house, their secrets begin to unravel through their interaction and confrontations.
*Available on DVD from Facets
9. "Gabbeh" (1996)
Dir. Mohsen Makhmalbaf
Taking its name from a type of Persian carpet, this stunningly evocative fable is adorned with mysticism and magical realist elements that shine through its colorful visual palette. Gabbeh, a young nomadic woman who is likely the incarnation of one of these traditional rugs, falls in love with horseman, but her community follows beliefs that hinder her desire.
*Available on DVD from New Yorker Video
10. "The Green Wave" (2010)
Dir. Ali Samadi Ahadi
Told through striking animated sequences, interviews and footage from the protests, this documentary constructs a bold portrait of the 2009 Green Movement following Ahmadinejad’s reelection. The regime's strong grip over its citizens is exposed, but the spirit of the Iranian people demanding change is even stronger.
*Available on DVD from Strand Releasing
11. "Hamoun" (1990)
Dir. Dariush Mehrjui
Underscored by subdued comedy and poignant dream sequences, Mehrjui’s visionary drama centers on the decaying relationship between Hamoun, a businessman with hopes of becoming a writer, and his wife Mahshid, a painter. Insanity takes over him when she decides to divorce him because of his angry outbursts. A series of drastic occurrences ensue.
*Available on DVD from First Run Features
12. "Kandahar" (2001)
Dir. Mohsen Makhmalbaf
Despite being set in Afghanistan, this Iranian production is a powerful achievement that unveils the unjust treatment of women, not only under the Taliban’s control, but also in the entire region. Nafas, an Afghan women living in Canada, decides to return to her homeland to find her depressed sister. Through this dangerous journey she discovers much more about life in the war-torn country than she expected.
*Available on DVD from New Yorker Video
13. "Leila" (1997)
Dir. Dariush Mehrjui
Starting famous Iranian actress Leila Hatami in one her earliest roles as a married woman unable to have children, this conjugal drama explores the role of women within Iranian society. Leila’s husband, Reza (played by “The Past” star Ali Mosaffa), loves her, but his mother wants him to get another wife that can give him a son. The title character is divided between her happiness and what others think is best for her marriage.
*Available on DVD from First Run Features
14. "Manuscripts Don't Burn" (2013)
Dir. Mohammad Rasoulof
Rasoulof’s brave and searing political statement was shot illegally going against the20-year-ban from filmmaking imposed on him by the Iranian government. It denounces the terrifying lack of freedom of expression via the thrilling story a pair of writers risking it all to protect an incendiary manuscript that authorities are eager to destroy.
*Available on Netflix Instant Watch and on DVD from Kino Lorber
15. "Marooned in Iraq" (2002)
Dir. Bahman Ghobadi
Highlighting the rich Kurdish culture, both in Iran and Iraq, Ghobadi’s film is set in the aftermath of the ravaging Gulf War. Marooned is an elderly man who must travel across the mountainous landscape that divides the two countries to find his ex-wife. While portraying the horrors of war in an affecting manner, the film is also a life-affirming work that finds hope in the most surprising places.
*Available on DVD from Wellspring
16. "My Tehran for Sale"
Dir. Granaz Moussavi
Devastating and current, this debut feature from renowned poet turned filmmaker Granaz Moussavi is a hard-hitting critique on the blatant criminalization of artists in Iran. An actress banned from her profession questions whether she should remain in the country or flee. Getting to safety means leaving everything she knows behind. There are no easy options for her.
*Available on DVD from Global Lens
17. "No One Knows About Persian Cats" (2009)
Dir. Bahman Ghobadi
Music as the banner of freedom is the focus of Ghobadi’s film about the underground rock scene in Tehran. Secular music is essentially forbidden, and playing in public is considered a criminal act punished with prison. Crafted between reality and fiction, this quasi-documentary takes a look at a group of young musicians desperate to express themselves through their art.
*Available on DVD from Mpi Home Video
18. "Offside" (2006)
Dir. Jafar Panahi
Attending sporting events is prohibited for women in Iran, but that doesn’t stop many of them who go as far as to dress like men to get in. Panahi’s touching and insightful film takes place during the 2006 World Cup Qualifying match between Iran and Bahrain, and follows several girls who despite being excluded cheer for their team as joyfully as any fan would.
*Available on DVD from Sony Pictures Classics
19. "Persepolis" (2007)
Dir. Marjane Satrapi & Vincent Paronnaud
Nominated for the Best Animated Feature Oscar, this French-language marvel is based on Satrapi’s autobiographical graphic novel by the same name. With eye-popping hand-drawn animation, the film revisits the director’s childhood and teenage years in Iran during the events leading up to the Islamic Revolution. It’s a love letter to the bittersweet memories of the Iran Satrapi knew.
*Available on Blu-ray & DVD from Sony Pictures Classics
20. "A Separation" (2011)
Dir. Asghar Farhadi
Dealing with a marriage in turmoil facing the country's peculiar judicial system, Farhadi’s masterpiece is the most acclaimed film in the history of Iranian cinema and earned the country's first Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. It was also nominated for Best Original Screenplay for its enthralling thriller-like narrative that grips the audience until its unnerving conclusion. A must see!
*Available on Blu-ray & DVD from Sony Pictures Classics
21. "The Song of Sparrows" (2008)
Dir. Majid Majidi
When Karim (played by Berlin’s Silver Bear Winner Reza Naji), an ostrich farm worker, is forced to find a new job in the city to pay for his daughter’s hearing aid, Iran’s rural and urban realms collide. Thanks to the captivating grace that characterizes Majidi’s films, poverty and misfortune are observed here not with pity but with an optimistic and undefeated perspective.
*Available on DVD from E1 Entertainment
22." Taste of Cherry" (1997)
Dir. Abbas Kiarostami
This quiet and minimalist meditation on death and the simple joys of its antithesis is the first and only Iranian film to have won the coveted Palme d’Or at Cannes. Kiarostami follows a man who has decided to commit suicide and is looking for someone to help him achieve this. However, those he recruits along the way come with their own views on the meaning of our existence and attempt to persuade him to reconsider.
*Available on DVD from Criterion
23. "Ten" (2002)
Dir. Abbas Kiarostami
A female cabbie drives through the streets of Tehran picking up an array of characters that via their casual conversations shine a light on the Iranian society’s expectations of women. Constructed of ten individual scenes in which the only constant is the driver, this heavily improvised and peculiarly shot cinematic experiment is a work of fiction embedded with truth in every frame.
*Available on DVD from Zeitgeist Films
24. "This is Not a Film" (2011)
Dir. Mojtaba Mirtahmasb & Jafar Panahi
In an effort to tell his story despite being banned from filmmaking and under house arrest, filmmaker Jafar Panahi takes his frustration and ingeniously turns it into a courageous visual statement. Whether is shooting video with his cell phone or blocking an imaginary scene in his living room, his passion for storytelling is resilient even when confronting such suffocating censorship.
*Available on Netflix Instant Watch and on DVD from Palisades Tartan
25. "A Time for Drunken Horses" (2000)
Dir. Bahman Ghobadi
With the snow-covered Zagros Mountains as backdrop, Ghobadi’s debut feature tells the story of Ayoub, a young Kurdish boy who must provide for his siblings after their mother’s death. Added to the already difficult circumstances, his handicapped brother desperately needs a surgery. This pushes the heroic kid to persevere against all odds in the hostile environment.
*Available on Netflix Instant Watch and on DVD from Kino Lorber
26. "Turtles Can Fly" (2004)
Dir. Bahman Ghobadi
Commanding a cast made almost entirely of children Ghobadi sets his film in an Iraqi Kurdish refugee camp just before the American occupation of 2003. Making a living by clearing the hazardous minefields that surround them, a group of orphan children create a small community to survive. The atrocities of war are ever-present, but like in most of the director’s works, the triumph of the human spirit is at the film's core.
*Available on Amazon Instant Video
27. "The White Balloon" (1995)
Dir. Jafar Panahi
Written by Kiarostami and directed by Panahi this is another film set during the important Persian New Year celebrations. It centers on a little girl trying to convince her parents to buy her a goldfish and who gets in a couple mishaps along the way. With utmost innocence, the seemingly simple premise manages to be a charming delight that showcases family values and ancient virtues with a nice dose of humor. It’s an uplifting gem.
*Sadly the film is not curently availble in any format in the U.S. Hopefully Criterion or another distributor will fix this soon.
28. "The White Meadows" (2009)
Dir. Mohammad Rasoulof
While ethereal, almost otherworldly imagery achieved by cinematographer Ebrahim Ghafori is reason enough to see this film, Rasoulof’s poetic storytelling elevates it to even greater intellectual heights. By using a barren coastal land and its inhabitant as a metaphor for the intolerance and injustice that many of his compatriots -creative people in particular - confront everyday, the filmmaker denounces these evils through melancholic beauty.
*Available on DVD from Global Lens
29. "The Willow Tree" (2005)
Dir. Majid Majidi
A writer, who had been blinded in an accident as a child, regains his vision as a middle aged adult only to be challenged by a world that has become foreign to him. At first, his miraculous new situation appears to be an answer to a prayer, but Majidi soon shows us how vision can become a curse in this spiritual drama about fate and regret. Exquisitely shot and sporting visceral performances, the film is both heart-rending and though provoking.
*Available on DVD from New Yorker Films
30. "The Wind Will Carry Us" (1999)
Dir. Abbas Kiarostami
Taking the audience on a trip to an untainted region of Iran where tradition hasn’t yet been disrupted by modernity, the acclaimed director crafted another unforgettable experience. Sublimely executed, the film joins four journalists pretending to be engineers as they document the funerary rituals of the local Kurdish people. More than learning about them as researchers, their interactions force them to engage on a much more human level.
*Availble on Blu-ray and DVD from Cohen Media Group...
While useful in the theoretical realm in which politics take place, these generalizations create a distorted image of the foreign nation fed by assumptions and dangerously insensitive stereotypes. It’s much easier for rulers to justify their actions if the adversary is made out to look like an irredeemable villain. Sensationalism and ignorance are weapons far more destructive than missiles, because once the smoke dissipates hatred remains.
On that note, it should be clear that the Iranian people are not the Iranian government. Their rich cultural history is not reflected in the actions of those in power, but in the prevailing elegance and allure of their artwork. Remarkable poets, musicians, painters, and, what we are mostly concerned with here, filmmakers.
The history of Iranian cinema is vast and has survived the many transitions and troubling periods the country has experienced. Even more impressive is the fact that as masterfully as Iranian filmmakers and actors understand the medium, they have never watered down their individuality for the sake of mainstream international success. Instead, they’ve managed to create their unique cinematic language that aligns with their idiosyncrasies and that is not silenced despite the hardships they face, but finds a way around censorship or defies it altogether.
Certainly not a definitive list, the following collection of films aims to be an introduction to the compelling and diverse voices within this captivating national cinema and to encourage you to seek out other films in the future. There are films here that are concerned with rural and working class lifestyles, others that focus on the traditions of ethnic minorities, those that deal with the modern middle class, and also several works denouncing the country’s political situation and the oppression that comes with it.
There are also some films that are note worthy even if they don’t easily fit within the parameters of what an Iranian film is.
Special Mentions:
-Iranian-American director Ana Lily Amirpour and her outstanding Farsi-language debut “A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night,” a visually striking vampire story set in a fictional Iranian town.
-American filmmaker Till Schauder and his documentary “The Iran Job,” which follows Kevin Sheppard, an American professional basketball player in Iran, and uses his experience to build cultural bridges between the two countries.
-Farhadi’s “The Past,” which though is not precisely an Iranian story, continues to show the director’s specific talent for greatly written, puzzling narratives both in his home country and abroad.
-Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud's “Chicken with Plums,” a gorgeously whimsical and darkly comedic love story set in pre-revolutionary Tehran starring Mathieu Amalric.
Lastly, in honor of Nowruz or Persian New Year, which is a peaceful celebration of renewal and rebirth that takes place from March 20-24 in Iran and Iranian communities around the world, let’s remember the deeply moving and wise words that Asghar Farhadi gifted us during his acceptance speech on Oscar night a few years back. No one could have said it better than him.
“At this time many Iranians all over the world are watching us, and I imagine them to be very happy. They are happy not just because of an important award, or a film, or a filmmaker, but because at a time in which talk of war, intimidation, and aggression is exchanged between politicians, the name of their country, Iran, is spoken here through her glorious culture, a rich and ancient culture that has been hidden under the heavy dust of politics. I proudly offer this award to the people of my country, a people that respect all cultures and civilizations and despise hostility and resentment. Thank you so much.” –Director Asghar Farhadi after winning the Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award for “A Separation” on February 26, 2012
1. "About Elly" (2009)
Dir. Asghar Farhadi
In Farhadi's tense psychological drama a casual trip to the sea evolves into a subtly plotted mystery. The director's depiction of the Iranian middle class in such a fascinatingly unexpected story connected with both local and international audiences earning him awards at home and abroad, among them Berlin's Silver Bear.
*The Cinema Guild will release the film theatrically on April 17, 2015
2. "Baran" (2001)
Dir. Majid Majidi
Taking a look at the diverse ethnic groups that coexist in Iran, the film follows a love story between a man and a young Afghan woman who must pretend to be a man in order to work. Eliciting truly naturalistic performance from his cast Majidi gives voice to his almost silent protagonist, a woman caught up in a system designed by men.
*Available on Netflix Instant Watch
3. "Children of Heaven" (1997)
Dir. Majid Majidi
Iran's first ever Academy Award nominated film is also Majidi's most renowned work. Innocence permeates this sweet story about two siblings from a working class family trying to find a pair of missing shoes. Their adventure delivers valuable life lessons that are at once heartwarming and profound. Unquestionably a classic.
*Available on Netflix Instant Watch and on DVD from Lionsgate
4. "Closed Curtain" (2013)
Dir. Jafar Panahi & Kambuzia Partovi
In this enigmatic observation on repression and surveillance an anonymous screenwriter, played by co-director Kambuzia Partovi, hides with his dog in a secluded location. Eventually, as other surprising characters appear, the film becomes a complex dance between reality and fabrication. Both filmmakers had their passports confiscated by the Iranian government due to the subversive content of the film.
*Available on Amazon Instant Video
5. "Close-Up" (1990)
Dir. Abbas Kiarostami
In one of the greatest examples of reality and fiction blending in almost seamless ways, Abbas Kiarostami's masterwork poses complex questions about identity. When a film buff impersonates his favorite director, who happens to Mohsen Makhmalbaf , a series of events unravel as he plans his next, fake, film. Surreally enough the film is based on a true story and stars the actual people involved. It's all brilliantly meta.
*Available on Blu-ray & DVD from Criterion
6. "The Color of Paradise" (1999)
Dir. Majid Majidi
Though rejected by his father, a young blind boy rejoices in nature’s beauty and tries to understand the meaning of his struggles with the help of a mentor with the same condition. Showcasing Iran’s visually stunning rural landscapes and delicately embedding with philosophical concerns, Majidi’s poetic film delivers wisdom in wondrously unassuming ways.
*Available on DVD from Sony Pictures Classics
7. "The Cow" (1969)
Dir. Dariush Mehrjui
Considered a turning point in the nation’s cinematic history, this black-and-white work revolves around a man’s devotion for his cow and how its disappearance drives him into madness. While seemingly simple in its conception, Mehrjui manages to compellingly highlight the country’s traditional lifestyles.
*Available on DVD from First Run Features
8. "Fireworks Wednesday" (2006)
Dir. Asghar Farhadi
Intimate conflicts in the Iranian middle class are Farhadi’s expertise and this domestic drama, set fittingly during the celebrations prior to the Persian New Year, is no exception. When a soon-to-be bride in need of money for her wedding gets a job cleaning a family’s house, their secrets begin to unravel through their interaction and confrontations.
*Available on DVD from Facets
9. "Gabbeh" (1996)
Dir. Mohsen Makhmalbaf
Taking its name from a type of Persian carpet, this stunningly evocative fable is adorned with mysticism and magical realist elements that shine through its colorful visual palette. Gabbeh, a young nomadic woman who is likely the incarnation of one of these traditional rugs, falls in love with horseman, but her community follows beliefs that hinder her desire.
*Available on DVD from New Yorker Video
10. "The Green Wave" (2010)
Dir. Ali Samadi Ahadi
Told through striking animated sequences, interviews and footage from the protests, this documentary constructs a bold portrait of the 2009 Green Movement following Ahmadinejad’s reelection. The regime's strong grip over its citizens is exposed, but the spirit of the Iranian people demanding change is even stronger.
*Available on DVD from Strand Releasing
11. "Hamoun" (1990)
Dir. Dariush Mehrjui
Underscored by subdued comedy and poignant dream sequences, Mehrjui’s visionary drama centers on the decaying relationship between Hamoun, a businessman with hopes of becoming a writer, and his wife Mahshid, a painter. Insanity takes over him when she decides to divorce him because of his angry outbursts. A series of drastic occurrences ensue.
*Available on DVD from First Run Features
12. "Kandahar" (2001)
Dir. Mohsen Makhmalbaf
Despite being set in Afghanistan, this Iranian production is a powerful achievement that unveils the unjust treatment of women, not only under the Taliban’s control, but also in the entire region. Nafas, an Afghan women living in Canada, decides to return to her homeland to find her depressed sister. Through this dangerous journey she discovers much more about life in the war-torn country than she expected.
*Available on DVD from New Yorker Video
13. "Leila" (1997)
Dir. Dariush Mehrjui
Starting famous Iranian actress Leila Hatami in one her earliest roles as a married woman unable to have children, this conjugal drama explores the role of women within Iranian society. Leila’s husband, Reza (played by “The Past” star Ali Mosaffa), loves her, but his mother wants him to get another wife that can give him a son. The title character is divided between her happiness and what others think is best for her marriage.
*Available on DVD from First Run Features
14. "Manuscripts Don't Burn" (2013)
Dir. Mohammad Rasoulof
Rasoulof’s brave and searing political statement was shot illegally going against the20-year-ban from filmmaking imposed on him by the Iranian government. It denounces the terrifying lack of freedom of expression via the thrilling story a pair of writers risking it all to protect an incendiary manuscript that authorities are eager to destroy.
*Available on Netflix Instant Watch and on DVD from Kino Lorber
15. "Marooned in Iraq" (2002)
Dir. Bahman Ghobadi
Highlighting the rich Kurdish culture, both in Iran and Iraq, Ghobadi’s film is set in the aftermath of the ravaging Gulf War. Marooned is an elderly man who must travel across the mountainous landscape that divides the two countries to find his ex-wife. While portraying the horrors of war in an affecting manner, the film is also a life-affirming work that finds hope in the most surprising places.
*Available on DVD from Wellspring
16. "My Tehran for Sale"
Dir. Granaz Moussavi
Devastating and current, this debut feature from renowned poet turned filmmaker Granaz Moussavi is a hard-hitting critique on the blatant criminalization of artists in Iran. An actress banned from her profession questions whether she should remain in the country or flee. Getting to safety means leaving everything she knows behind. There are no easy options for her.
*Available on DVD from Global Lens
17. "No One Knows About Persian Cats" (2009)
Dir. Bahman Ghobadi
Music as the banner of freedom is the focus of Ghobadi’s film about the underground rock scene in Tehran. Secular music is essentially forbidden, and playing in public is considered a criminal act punished with prison. Crafted between reality and fiction, this quasi-documentary takes a look at a group of young musicians desperate to express themselves through their art.
*Available on DVD from Mpi Home Video
18. "Offside" (2006)
Dir. Jafar Panahi
Attending sporting events is prohibited for women in Iran, but that doesn’t stop many of them who go as far as to dress like men to get in. Panahi’s touching and insightful film takes place during the 2006 World Cup Qualifying match between Iran and Bahrain, and follows several girls who despite being excluded cheer for their team as joyfully as any fan would.
*Available on DVD from Sony Pictures Classics
19. "Persepolis" (2007)
Dir. Marjane Satrapi & Vincent Paronnaud
Nominated for the Best Animated Feature Oscar, this French-language marvel is based on Satrapi’s autobiographical graphic novel by the same name. With eye-popping hand-drawn animation, the film revisits the director’s childhood and teenage years in Iran during the events leading up to the Islamic Revolution. It’s a love letter to the bittersweet memories of the Iran Satrapi knew.
*Available on Blu-ray & DVD from Sony Pictures Classics
20. "A Separation" (2011)
Dir. Asghar Farhadi
Dealing with a marriage in turmoil facing the country's peculiar judicial system, Farhadi’s masterpiece is the most acclaimed film in the history of Iranian cinema and earned the country's first Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. It was also nominated for Best Original Screenplay for its enthralling thriller-like narrative that grips the audience until its unnerving conclusion. A must see!
*Available on Blu-ray & DVD from Sony Pictures Classics
21. "The Song of Sparrows" (2008)
Dir. Majid Majidi
When Karim (played by Berlin’s Silver Bear Winner Reza Naji), an ostrich farm worker, is forced to find a new job in the city to pay for his daughter’s hearing aid, Iran’s rural and urban realms collide. Thanks to the captivating grace that characterizes Majidi’s films, poverty and misfortune are observed here not with pity but with an optimistic and undefeated perspective.
*Available on DVD from E1 Entertainment
22." Taste of Cherry" (1997)
Dir. Abbas Kiarostami
This quiet and minimalist meditation on death and the simple joys of its antithesis is the first and only Iranian film to have won the coveted Palme d’Or at Cannes. Kiarostami follows a man who has decided to commit suicide and is looking for someone to help him achieve this. However, those he recruits along the way come with their own views on the meaning of our existence and attempt to persuade him to reconsider.
*Available on DVD from Criterion
23. "Ten" (2002)
Dir. Abbas Kiarostami
A female cabbie drives through the streets of Tehran picking up an array of characters that via their casual conversations shine a light on the Iranian society’s expectations of women. Constructed of ten individual scenes in which the only constant is the driver, this heavily improvised and peculiarly shot cinematic experiment is a work of fiction embedded with truth in every frame.
*Available on DVD from Zeitgeist Films
24. "This is Not a Film" (2011)
Dir. Mojtaba Mirtahmasb & Jafar Panahi
In an effort to tell his story despite being banned from filmmaking and under house arrest, filmmaker Jafar Panahi takes his frustration and ingeniously turns it into a courageous visual statement. Whether is shooting video with his cell phone or blocking an imaginary scene in his living room, his passion for storytelling is resilient even when confronting such suffocating censorship.
*Available on Netflix Instant Watch and on DVD from Palisades Tartan
25. "A Time for Drunken Horses" (2000)
Dir. Bahman Ghobadi
With the snow-covered Zagros Mountains as backdrop, Ghobadi’s debut feature tells the story of Ayoub, a young Kurdish boy who must provide for his siblings after their mother’s death. Added to the already difficult circumstances, his handicapped brother desperately needs a surgery. This pushes the heroic kid to persevere against all odds in the hostile environment.
*Available on Netflix Instant Watch and on DVD from Kino Lorber
26. "Turtles Can Fly" (2004)
Dir. Bahman Ghobadi
Commanding a cast made almost entirely of children Ghobadi sets his film in an Iraqi Kurdish refugee camp just before the American occupation of 2003. Making a living by clearing the hazardous minefields that surround them, a group of orphan children create a small community to survive. The atrocities of war are ever-present, but like in most of the director’s works, the triumph of the human spirit is at the film's core.
*Available on Amazon Instant Video
27. "The White Balloon" (1995)
Dir. Jafar Panahi
Written by Kiarostami and directed by Panahi this is another film set during the important Persian New Year celebrations. It centers on a little girl trying to convince her parents to buy her a goldfish and who gets in a couple mishaps along the way. With utmost innocence, the seemingly simple premise manages to be a charming delight that showcases family values and ancient virtues with a nice dose of humor. It’s an uplifting gem.
*Sadly the film is not curently availble in any format in the U.S. Hopefully Criterion or another distributor will fix this soon.
28. "The White Meadows" (2009)
Dir. Mohammad Rasoulof
While ethereal, almost otherworldly imagery achieved by cinematographer Ebrahim Ghafori is reason enough to see this film, Rasoulof’s poetic storytelling elevates it to even greater intellectual heights. By using a barren coastal land and its inhabitant as a metaphor for the intolerance and injustice that many of his compatriots -creative people in particular - confront everyday, the filmmaker denounces these evils through melancholic beauty.
*Available on DVD from Global Lens
29. "The Willow Tree" (2005)
Dir. Majid Majidi
A writer, who had been blinded in an accident as a child, regains his vision as a middle aged adult only to be challenged by a world that has become foreign to him. At first, his miraculous new situation appears to be an answer to a prayer, but Majidi soon shows us how vision can become a curse in this spiritual drama about fate and regret. Exquisitely shot and sporting visceral performances, the film is both heart-rending and though provoking.
*Available on DVD from New Yorker Films
30. "The Wind Will Carry Us" (1999)
Dir. Abbas Kiarostami
Taking the audience on a trip to an untainted region of Iran where tradition hasn’t yet been disrupted by modernity, the acclaimed director crafted another unforgettable experience. Sublimely executed, the film joins four journalists pretending to be engineers as they document the funerary rituals of the local Kurdish people. More than learning about them as researchers, their interactions force them to engage on a much more human level.
*Availble on Blu-ray and DVD from Cohen Media Group...
- 3/23/2015
- by Carlos Aguilar
- Sydney's Buzz
The Toronto film Festival 2010, which began this Thursday, will have a lot to offer to its Bollywood patrons. On show are Anurag Kashyap’s That Girl In Yellow Boots, featuring Kalki Koechlin and Naseeruddin Shah, Kiran Rao’s Dhobi Ghat, co-starring Aamir Khan and Prateik Babbar, Sidharth Srinivasan’s Pairon Tale (Soul Of Sand) and actor Aamir Bashir’s directorial debut, Harud (Autumn), with Iranian actor Reza Naji and Shahnawaz Bhat. Co-director of the festival, Cameron Bailey was all praise for Kiran Rao’s Dhobi Ghat, describing it as “a love letter to Mumbai”. Bashir’s Harud, he says, “is a remarkable achievement marked by ...
- 9/9/2010
- Hindustan Times - Cinema
It.s a different kind of tiff this year. A new kind of tiff.The festival.s 35th year is marked with a whole lot of new in 2010.The festival will open doors to its new home, the Bell Lightbox on September 12th with a big ol. block party including a live concert in the entertainment district - right in middle of all the action.There.s also a new festival strip of commotion . the all new festival village, located on King Street in the heart of downtown Toronto just steps away from all the wining and dining your heart can desire. The Indian contingent at the festival is also quite .hatke. (different) from previous years.The festival.s South Asian line-up is fragrant of the winds of change and an increasing acceptance of a new crop of Indian films gaining momentum and emerging strong in Mumbai . Independent Cinema. Cinemagoers...
- 9/7/2010
- Filmicafe
Actor Aamir Bashir (Peepli Live, A Wednesday, Split Wide Open) makes his directorial debut with Harud (Autumn). The film will have its world premiere at the upcoming Toronto International Film Festival (Sept 9-19) in the discovery section that showcases emerging and new talents. The film, set in contemporary Kashmir, captures the life of Rafiq who has lost his tourist photographer brother to insurgency. Renowned Iranian actor Reza Naji (Best actor at Berlin for the Song of the Sparrows by Majid Majidi) makes his first appearance in an Indian film with Harud.
Aamir Bashir speaks to Bikas Mishra on “Harud” and challenges before Independent filmmaking in India..
How and where did “Harud” begin?
The idea came to me nearly five years ago. It was an impulse. It took four years to translate that impulse into a screenplay. Then in August- September 2009, we decided, again on an impulse, to shoot it in...
Aamir Bashir speaks to Bikas Mishra on “Harud” and challenges before Independent filmmaking in India..
How and where did “Harud” begin?
The idea came to me nearly five years ago. It was an impulse. It took four years to translate that impulse into a screenplay. Then in August- September 2009, we decided, again on an impulse, to shoot it in...
- 8/25/2010
- by Bikas Mishra
- DearCinema.com
He was last seen as a police officer, two years ago, in Neeraj Pandey’s critically acclaimed, A Wednesday. Now, Aamir Bashir is ready with his directorial debut, Harud, that has been shot in Srinagar. He plays one of the pivotal roles in the film that also features Iranian actor Reza Naji who was seen in Majid Majidi’s Children Of Heaven.For Bashir who’s from Kashmir and still has family in the Valley, it took him six years to put the project together.“I had no plans of getting into direction. Harud could well be my only film as a director. I had ...
- 8/3/2010
- Hindustan Times - Cinema
The Song of Sparrows
That Majid Majidi is a master does not need retelling. Ample evidence of that lies in Baran, Children of Heaven and Colours of Paradise. And to a great extent in The Song of Sparrows.
This is a film that has everything that Majidi is known for –wonderful actors, including a livewire band of child actors, panoramic cinematography (Tooraj Mansouri) which like in all Majidi films captures Iran’s vast openness at its most beautiful and contrasts it with the claustrophobia of the urban landscape, a fine mix of humour and melancholy, and above all, a deep humanist thought that gets life through a story of multiple meanings but told in an utterly simple manner.
This is a film in which Majidi raises a moral debate on how – and not whether - capitalism corrupts human values. Some might find Majidi’s style a bit to sentiment driven,...
That Majid Majidi is a master does not need retelling. Ample evidence of that lies in Baran, Children of Heaven and Colours of Paradise. And to a great extent in The Song of Sparrows.
This is a film that has everything that Majidi is known for –wonderful actors, including a livewire band of child actors, panoramic cinematography (Tooraj Mansouri) which like in all Majidi films captures Iran’s vast openness at its most beautiful and contrasts it with the claustrophobia of the urban landscape, a fine mix of humour and melancholy, and above all, a deep humanist thought that gets life through a story of multiple meanings but told in an utterly simple manner.
This is a film in which Majidi raises a moral debate on how – and not whether - capitalism corrupts human values. Some might find Majidi’s style a bit to sentiment driven,...
- 4/8/2010
- by Runumi G
- DearCinema.com
Reza Naji has said that he will be playing the lead in new movie Autumn. The veteran actor, who won a Silver Bear for Best Actor at the Berlin Film Festival, has revealed that he will be starring in Aamir Bashir's latest project in which he plays an Indian policeman. "I speak in Hindi and Urdu during the movie with the help of a Hindi language teacher and a translator," Naji told Fars News Agency. "I began (more)...
- 12/1/2009
- by By Will Astbury
- Digital Spy
"The Song of Sparrows" reviewby Joanne Brokaw, Writer "The Song of Sparrows," by Iranian filmmaker Majid Majidi, is a beautiful, and sometimes amusing, story about what can happen to a man when commercialism and materialism take over his life. Karim is an ostrich farmer in Iran, barely supporting his family but content, until two events change the course of his life. First, his deaf daughter Haniyeh loses her hearing aid and he doesn't have the money to have it fixed. Then, an ostrich gets loose on the farm and Karin loses his job. His luck changes when, while on his motorbike in Tehran, a passerby mistakes Karim for a taxi and pays him for a ride, prompting Karim to begin ferrying passengers through the gridlocked streets, bringing home not only money but useless items he salvages from dumps and construction lots. Some of the items are useful; he scores a...
- 4/11/2009
- Upcoming-Movies.com
How you gonna keep them down on the ostrich farm after they've seen Tehran?
That's the questioned posed by "The Song of Sparrows," directed and co-written by Iran's Oscar-
nominated (for "Children of Heaven" in 1999) Majid Majidi.
Karim (Reza Naji) supports his wife and three kids as an ostrich wrangler. But, as seems to be happening a lot these days, he's fired.
On a trip to Tehran to buy a new hearing aid for one of his daughters, he mistaken for a taxi driver, and gives a stranger a ride on the back of his motorbike.
That's the questioned posed by "The Song of Sparrows," directed and co-written by Iran's Oscar-
nominated (for "Children of Heaven" in 1999) Majid Majidi.
Karim (Reza Naji) supports his wife and three kids as an ostrich wrangler. But, as seems to be happening a lot these days, he's fired.
On a trip to Tehran to buy a new hearing aid for one of his daughters, he mistaken for a taxi driver, and gives a stranger a ride on the back of his motorbike.
- 4/3/2009
- by By V.A. MUSETTO
- NYPost.com
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