Screening times:
Sunday, November 22, 5:30 PM

Bahram Beyzai | Iran | 1989 | 120m
Gilaki, Farsi and Khuzestani Arabic with English subtitles

After his family is killed in a bombing, young Bashu flees southern Iran alone and arrives in a remote northern village. Unable to speak the local language and shunned as a little stranger, he is taken in by a mother of two whose husband is away. A fragile bond slowly begins to grow between them.

A landmark of Iranian cinema and a deeply humanist work, Bashu, The Little Stranger blends realism with the quiet lyricism of a modern fable. Produced in 1985 with the support of Kanoon (the Iranian state institute that also backed Abbas Kiarostami’s early films), the film stands as a sincere and enduring plea for tolerance, and a subtle critique of rigid social norms. In 1999, it was voted “the greatest Iranian film of all time” by a panel of 150 critics and professionals.

Restoration in 4K at Roashana Studios with the support of the Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults (Kanoon).

"That it should win the Golden Lion at Venice this year is more than an award for a single film; it is a statement about the enduring relevance of cinema itself. In a world of global migration crises, wars, and rising xenophobia, a film made in Iran decades ago tells us more about who we are and who we could be than many contemporary works. It demonstrates that cinema, when rooted in its own culture yet open to universal themes, can achieve immortality. Beyzai, in crafting Bashu, The Little Stranger, gave the world a story that could belong to any displaced child, any courageous mother, any community confronted with the challenge of the stranger at its gate. By honoring this film, Venice honors not only Beyzai and Iran but the very principle of cinema as a bridge between cultures and as a voice for the voiceless." - Bijan Tehrani, Cinema Without Borders

Tickets $12 ($11.40 at the door if available)