Children of Heaven  Bacheha-Ye aseman by Majid Majidi

Rating: 7/10 (21 July 2007)

Children of Heaven is a realistic style film about young Ali (Amir Farrokh Hashemian) and his sister Zahra (Bahare Seddiqi) involved in a scheme to share a pair of sneakers to school because Ali mistakenly lost Zahra's shoes while doing errands for the family. The film follows their adventures to hide the plan from their parents and teachers, keep up with school and errands and manage a way to gain a new pair of shoes for Zahra. With the family struggling for money, the film portrays the children's relentless pride and determination, a theme continued throughout New Iranian Cinema.
New Iranian Cinema, internationally appearing in 1985 with the release of The Runner, uses non-actors, child characters and real location shooting to compose a natural modern-day tempo for Iran. The films depicting life through a child's eyes bring an indisputable innocence and hope for change in the country. This change as we see in Children of Heaven depicts the poverty of modern-day Iran against the character and strength in the familial love of the brother and sister. Out of poverty we find hope in their relationship.
By 1997 American audiences and the Hollywood Academy were ready to accept the "poetic realism" of Iranian films. Since the release of the Runner in 1985 and the many films that followed introduced Iran's "Cinema of Children" for western audiences. Children of Heaven's inside look into modern day Tehran gave an open and realistic point of view the Academy was ready and eager for.