Homework
Abbas Kiarostami, 1989, 77 min

“In Kiarostami’s second documentary feature about education, the filmmaker himself asks the questions, probing a succession of invariably cute first and second graders about their home situations and the schoolwork they must do there. It emerges that many parents are illiterate. Tellingly, many kids can define punishment (the corporal variety seems common) but not encouragement.” – Janus Films

Preceded by:

The Chorus
Abbas Kiarostami, 1982, 18 min

“An old man strolls through the noisy streets of Rasht, and when his hearing aid is knocked out of his ear, the film’s sound goes off, mimicking the silence that envelops him. At home, the same thing happens when he takes the device out, and Kiarostami intercuts his silent actions with the clamour of schoolgirls who try to get his attention from outside. Another Kiarostami meditation on the contrasts of silence and sound, age and youth, solitude and solidarity.” – Janus Films

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Screening as part of Close-Up on Abbas Kiarostami