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In the mid to late 1990s, Iran began to be recognized as a refreshing source of low budget, wryly naturalistic filmmaking, and Jafar Panahi's The White Balloon winner of the Camera d'Or award at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival was the first Iranian film to get a U.S. art house release. Simple and spare yet filled with observant detail, it's a mild, beguiling movie about a 7 year old girl's tenacious quest to buy a cherished goldfish for her family's New Year's Day celebration. That's really all there is to it, but it's wonderfully warm, funny, and generous in spirit. With an almost miraculous ability to capture moments and reality unhindered by the presence of a camera and crew, Panahi handles this seemingly trivial story as a child's emotional odyssey, set amidst the daily rhythms of Teheran as a city where kindness and cruelty can be found in close proximity. Anyone interested in international films and filmmakers should give this one high priority on their list of must see movies.
ISBN: 6304274793
Author: Director: Jafar Panahi
Category: Film
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