Directed by Abbas Kiarostami • 1975 • Iran
The first of Abbas Kiarostami’s films made for, rather than about, children was an experiment in combining live action and animation, done in collaboration with animator Nafiseh Riahi. As two schoolboys watch animated views of animals’ actions—kangaroos jumping, fish swimming, etc.—one boy (played by Riahi’s son Kamal) says, “I can, too,” and imitates the actions. The music is sprightly, the mood fun. The second boy is Kiarostami’s son Ahmad.
Up Next in Abbas Kiarostami’s Childhood Films
-
Two Solutions for One Problem
Directed by Abbas Kiarostami • 1975 • Iran
This simple moral tale seems to prefigure WHERE IS THE FRIEND’S HOUSE? Two young schoolboys, Dara and Nader, are friends until Dara returns Nader’s notebook torn and Nader retaliates in kind, setting off an escalating battle that leads to destruction of...
-
A Wedding Suit
Directed by Abbas Kiarostami • 1976 • Iran
Starring Mohammad Fassih, Mehdi Nekoueï, Massoud ZandIn a trilevel shopping arcade, a teenage boy who works for a tailor is besieged by two other boys who want to borrow a new suit to wear on a social outing before it’s turned over to its owner. One of...
-
The Colors
Directed by Abbas Kiarostami • 1976 • Iran
Ostensibly a film for children, this picture-book essay about the range of hues that brighten our world has the air of a delightfully playful formalistic exercise. As a narrator runs though the colors one by one, Abbas Kiarostami shows us where each app...
