The Traveller
Abbas Kiarostami, 1974, 74 min

“Kiarostami’s first feature focuses on a boy in a provincial city so avid to get to Tehran to see a soccer match that he’ll lie to adults and cheat other kids. A quest film that’s also a study of youthful obsession, it’s filmed in edgy black and white with a quiet energy that matches its hero’s. The Traveler has an acridly ironic ending and one of the best performances by a child in Kiarostami’s early work.” – Janus Films

Preceded by:

Breaktime
Abbas Kiarostami, 1972, 15 min

“Disciplined at school for breaking a window, a boy joins throngs of his schoolmates as they make a cacophonous exit into Tehran’s streets. He then briefly joins an impromptu soccer game but disrupts it by stealing the ball and running away, and ends up drifting aimlessly along a busy highway. Free of dialogue but using nonsynchronous concrete sound throughout, this moody film shows Kiarostami expanding his visual vocabulary with zooms and crane and helicopter shots.” – Janus Films

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Screening as part of Close-Up on Abbas Kiarostami