The White Balloon
The White Balloon ★★★½ Badkonake Sefid 1995
Beautifully told story from the viewpoint of determined seven-year-old Tehranian Razieh (Mohammad-khani), who wants to properly celebrate the Islamic New Year by buying a particularly plump goldfish (a symbol of harmony) from the pet shop. She manages to beg the money from her mother and sets off but, distracted by the street sights, Reziah loses the banknote, which falls into a street grate. Various characters seek to help her out but it's Reziah's resourceful brother Ali (Kafili) who gets a balloon seller to finally retrieve the money. Farsi with subtitles. 85m/C VHS, DVD . IA Aida Mohammadkhani, Mohsen Kalifi, Fereshteh Sadr Orfani, Anna Bourkowska, Mohammad Shahani, Mohammad Bahktiari; D: Jafar Panahi; W: Abbas Kiarostami; C: Farzad Jowdat. N.Y. Film Critics ‘96: Foreign Film.