Abbas Kiarostami’s Childhood Films

Long before he became one of the most renowned artists in world cinema, the great Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami began his cinematic career at the Institute for Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults (a.k.a. Kanoon) in Tehran, where he honed his distinctive style and themes and initiated a three-decade-long string of films made about or for children. From his very first short BREAD AND ALLEY (which the director called the “mother of all my films”) to underseen early revelations like EXPERIENCE and THE TRAVELER to his beloved international breakthrough WHERE IS THE FRIEND’S HOUSE?, these graceful, playful, and deceptively simple works use the small, relatable struggles of children to point to major universal truths about society, ethics, morality, and the human condition.