Children of Heaven (1997)

After a boy loses his sister's pair of shoes, he goes on a series of adventures in order to find them. When he can't, he tries a new way to "win" a new pair.

Director:

Majid Majidi

Writer:

Majid Majidi

Stars:

Mohammad Amir Naji, Amir Farrokh Hashemian, Bahare Seddiqi

Top Rated Movies #128 | Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 13 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Mohammad Amir Naji	...	Ali's Father (as Amir Naji)
Amir Farrokh Hashemian	...	Ali (as Mir Farrokh Hashemian)
Bahare Seddiqi	...	Zahra
Nafise Jafar-Mohammadi	...	Roya
Fereshte Sarabandi	...	Ali's Mother
Kamal Mirkarimi	...	Assistant (as Kamal Mir Karimi)
Behzad Rafi	...	Trainer (as Behzad Rafiee)
Dariush Mokhtari	...	Ali's Teacher
Mohammad-Hasan Hosseinian	...	Roya's Father
Masume Dair	...	Roya's Mother
Kambiz Peykarnegar	...	Race Organizer
Hasan Roohparvari	...	Race Photographer
Abbas-Ali Roomandi	...	Shoemaker
Jafar Seyfollahi	...	Green Grocer
Qolamreza Maleki	...	Salt Seller

Storyline

Zahra's shoes are gone; her older brother Ali lost them. They are poor, there are no shoes for Zahra until they come up with an idea: they will share one pair of shoes, Ali's. School awaits. Will the plan succeed?

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Plot Keywords:

race | late for school | family relationships | neorealism | shoe | 

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Taglines:

A Little Secret...Their Biggest Adventure!

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Genres:

Drama | Family

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for some mild language

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

Iran

Language:

Persian

Release Date:

22 January 1999 (USA)

Also Known As:

Children of Heaven

Filming Locations:

Tehran, Iran

Box Office

Budget:

$180,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$20,100, 24 January 1999, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$925,402, 23 May 1999

Company Credits

Production Co:

Kanun parvaresh fekri

Technical Specs

Runtime:

89 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Majid Majidi's 3rd feature film.

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Goofs

When Ali and Zahra are meeting to swap shoes in the rain, we follow Zahra running through the soaking streets. When it cuts to the alley where the swap takes place, the ground is completely dry. After they split, we follow them running through a street which is watered down.

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Connections

References The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (1962)

User Reviews

Beautiful!

I just saw this film in South Korea at a church. The film is spoken in Farsi, the subtitles were in Korean. It didn't matter that I couldn't understand a single word, because the cinematography and the faces of the children, their parents and the other cast members did all the talking. A wonderful film that dispelled my notions of Tehran as a dark and forbidding place - actually it's quite beautiful! We Americans have not seen Iran since 1979 and it is my hope that soon we can restore relations again. I wouldn't mind visiting.