Children of Heaven (1997)
Coming Out at 1997 in theaters
Drama, Family
Children of Heaven is family drama film directed and written by Majid Majidi. The film stars Amir Farrokh Hashemian, Bahare Seddiqi, Reza Naji, Fereshte Sarabandi, Dariush Mokhtari, Nafise Jafar-Mohammadi and Mohammed-Hasan Hosseinian. The film primiered at 1 February 1997 on Fajr Film Festival.
Two children concoct an elaborate scheme to cover up the loss of a pair of shoes in this family drama from Iran. Ali (Mohammad Amir Naji) and Zahra (Mir Farrokh Hashemian) are a brother and sister growing up in a poor neighborhood. Ali is given the responsibility of picking up Zahra’s shoes from the repair shop, since she needs them to attend school. Ali makes the mistake of setting them down outside a market, and moments later they’re swiped by a beggar. Ali and Zahra are convinced that their parents will be furious when they discover the shoes have been lost, since they can’t afford a new pair, so Ali gets an idea — Zahra is scheduled to attend classes in the morning, while Ali goes to school in the afternoon. Zahra can wear Ali’s sneakers to school, and she’ll trade them off to Ali when he comes in for the afternoon session. They hope the scheme will work long enough to keep Zahra in school until her shoes can be found, but matters get more complicated when Ali is entered in a 4k run.
Director: Majid Majidi
Writer: Majid Majidi
Stars: Amir Farrokh Hashemian, Bahare Seddiqi, Reza Naji, Fereshte Sarabandi, Dariush Mokhtari, Nafise Jafar-Mohammadi, Mohammed-Hasan Hosseinian
►Cast
| Mohammad Amir Naji | ► | Ali’s Father |
| Amir Farrokh Hashemian | ► | Ali |
| Bahare Seddiqi | ► | Zahra |
| Nafise Jafar-Mohammadi | ► | Roya |
| Fereshte Sarabandi | ► | Ali’s Mother |
| Kamal Mirkarimi | ► | Assistant |
| Behzad Rafi | ► | Trainer |
| Dariush Mokhtari | ► | Ali’s Teacher |
| Mohammad-Hasan Hosseinian | ► | Roya’s Father |
| Masume Dair | ► | Roya’s Mother |
| Kambiz Peykarnegar | ► | Race Organizer |
| Hasan Roohparvari | ► | Race Photographer |
| Abbas-Ali Roomandi | ► | Shoemaker |
| Jafar Seyfollahi | ► | Green Grocer |
| Qolamreza Maleki | ► | Salt Seller |
| Zahra Mirzai | ► | Zahra’s Teacher |
| Sara Zamani | ► | Trainer |
| Mohammad Haj-Hosseini | ► | Mosque Servant |
| Kazem Asqarpoor | ► | Grand Father |
| Mohammad-Hossein Shahidi | ► | Alireza |
| Seyd-Ali Hosseini | ► | Ali’s Friend |
| Haj-Ali Salimi | ► | Old Man |
| Ahmad Pourmokhber | ► | Mash Ramezan |
| Golnaz Tariqat | ► | Ms. Koubab |
| Mash-Ebrahim Safari | ► | Ali’s Father’s Friend |
| Davud Shams | ► | Shoe Seller |
| Azade Qale Noi | ► | Video Cameraman |
| Faramarz Safarizadeh | ► | Video Cameraman |
| Hossein Ahamdloo | ► | Photographer |
| Siamak Haj-Amini | ► | Photographer |
| Soheil Haj-Amini | ► | Photographer |
| Rahman Kharazchi | ► | Referee |
| Jamshid Yusefi | ► | Referee |
| Javad Kazemi | ► | Referee |
| Mohammad Oskooi | ► | Award Presenter |
| Reza Dehghan | ► | Award Presenter |
| Ali Chaharian | ► | Award Presenter |
| Amir-Ali Kazemi | ► | First Runner |
| Navid Feyzabadi | ► | Second Runner / Third Runner |
| Pasha Shoja Zadeh | ► | Fourth Runner |
| Moshen Qadiri Nejad | ► | Runner |
| Amir Hossein Tavakkoli | ► | Runner |
| Hadi Maleki | ► | Runner |
| Mohammad Hossein Mortavazi | ► | Runner |
| Seyed Karym Alikhani | ► | Runner |
| Christopher Maleki | ► | Salt Seller |