Children of Heaven (1997)

Director: Majid Majidi

Starring: Mohammad Amir Naji, Amir Farrokh Hashemian, Bahare Seddiqi

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.

‘Children of Heaven’ is a film about shoes. Yup, shoes! The film has such a simple premise, but it is so well done and touches on various humanitarian aspects within this simple story.

The film is about the consequences of a boy losing his sister’s shoes – how it affects the children, and that will ultimately also lead to self-discovery. The acting is so natural that the story is believable in its entirety. Mohammad Amir Naji plays a father who tries everything is his power to support his family, while his wife is sick and unable to work. They are poor and can just barely keep their head above water, and there is no money to buy new shoes. The child actors are so brilliant, it really is a shame none of them pursued acting. ‘Children of Heaven’ is excellent in its simplicity.

In Persian.

‘Children of Heaven’ received an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language Film. It won awards for Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Editing, Best Foreign Film, Best Asian Feature Film, among others, with several more award nominations.

Would I watch it again? Probably not, but it was very good.