India to review Abbas Kiarostami’s ‘Where is the Friend’s Home?’

The 18th edition of the Third Eye Asian Film Festival in India has scheduled to review Abbas Kiarostami’s ‘Where is the Friend’s Home?’.

The title is a 1987 Iranian drama film directed and written by Kiarostami.

Derived from a poem by Sohrab Sepehri, it is considered the first installment in Kiarostami’s Koker trilogy, followed by ‘Life, and Nothing More’ and ‘Through the Olive Trees’, all of which take place in Koker, Iran.

‘Where is the Friend’s Home?’ tells a deceptively simple account of a conscientious schoolboy's quest to return his friend's notebook in a neighboring village, since, should his friend fail to hand it in the next day, it is likely he will get expelled.

Hence, this film has been seen as a metaphor for the sense of civil duty, about loyalty and everyday heroics. The traditional beliefs of Iranian rural people are also depicted.

The film is among the top ten in the BFI list of the 50 films you should see by the age of 14.

Kiarostami has won many awards, including the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 1997 for ‘Taste of Cherry’.

He is mostly known as a screenwriter, film editor, art director and producer as well as a poet, photographer, painter, illustrator, and graphic designer.

The veteran Iranian filmmaker who passed away on July 4, 2016, following a heart attack at the age of 76, was honored at more than 300 film events around the world.

The Third Eye Asian Film Festival is to promote Asian cinema using multi-pronged approach of cultural activities.

The 18th edition of the Third Eye is slated for March 1-6, 2020 in Mumbai, India.

This edition of the Indian event will also screen ‘The Sea Swells’ by Amir Gholami, ‘Azar’ by Mohammad Hamzei, and ‘Golnesa’ by Sattar Chamani-Gol, all from Iran.

MG/AG