Shot on the streets of Kabul, Granaz Moussavi’s (My Tehran For Sale) outstanding new feature is in the tradition of the great child-centred works of the 1980s when filmmakers such as Kiarostami, Panahi and Amir Naderi (to whom this film is dedicated) were putting Iranian cinema in the forefront of world production.
9-year-old Hewad is an irrepressible, street-smart kid who is energetically working every angle, hustling everything from pomegranate juice to amulets to protection from the evil eye. His real ambition is to be a movie star, and this comes a step closer when he meets an Australian photographer. But in a city where every family has a member who has been ‘martyred’, the streets are as perilous as they are vivid.
Australia’s recent involvement with Afghanistan has been mixed, to say the best. The deeply-felt humanism of this film might just be our most effective contribution to that troubled country.
“The non-professional actor’s quick grin and darting onscreen energy are the animating forces of Iranian-Australian filmmaker Granaz Moussavi’s conventional but effective heart-tugger” – Guy Lodge, Variety
“Afghanistan is painted in a light not generally seen by western audiences, and it’s a welcome change” – Travis Akbar, ScreenHub
Festivals
Adelaide Film Festival, Tokyo Film Festival, Melbourne International Film Festival, Sydney Film Festival, Kerala International Film Festival, Screenwave International Film Festival, Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, Darwin International Film Festival, Fribourg International Film Festival, São Paulo International Film Festival, International Film Festival of India, Bengaluru International Film Festival, Chennai International Film Festival
Nominations
- Asia Pacific Screen Awards: Best Youth Feature Film
- Kerala International Film Festival: World Cinema
- Australian entry for Best International Feature Film at the 94th Academy Awards