In Brief

Bachchah’hā-yi āsmān (Children of Heaven), (1996), is an Iranian drama written and directed by Majīd Majīdī. The film is the story of a young boy’s undertaking to win a new pair of shoes for her sister who has recently lost her shoes Bachchah’hā-yi āsmān has been critically acclaimed and received numerous international recognitions. Some critics recognize Majīdī as a realist filmmaker, but he himself has said that” if he shows poverty, he tries to show its “fragrance” as well, so that the result is what he calls “proud poverty” and also: “if Children of Heaven only wanted to address the social layers; It was natural that it might be a completely black film protesting the social situation”. Thus, some other critics believe that the film “Children of Heaven” is not a social realist film, but a melodrama that tries to present a soft and gentle picture of poverty in Iranian society. Bachchah’hā-yi āsmān is the first Iranian film nominated for the Academy Award; it was nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film in 1998.