Baran (2002)

Editor's Note From Iranian director Majid Majidi (CHILDREN OF HEAVEN), BARAN is the story of Lateef, a 17-year-old boy who lives in Teheran and works in the kitchen on a construction site. Hotheaded and always ready for a fight, Lateef resents his boss Memar for holding his wages to send to his father at the end of the year. When Rahmat, a young Afghan boy, replaces Lateef, Lateef's new job is lugging heavy bags of cement up the stairs. Hungry for revenge, Lateef sets out to make Rahmat's life miserable. One day, while spying on Rahmat, Lateef realizes that the boy is actually a girl hiding her gender so she can work to support her family. Lateef falls in love and decides to help her with what little money he has. In the process, he blossoms and changes from a sullen teenager into a generous young man. BARAN is a wonderfully romantic tale about sacrifice and devotion. But underneath this simplistic fable is a political film about 1.5 million Afghani refugees suffering in Iran, and Majidi shows a remarkable talent in making BARAN seem like a romantic love story. BARAN belongs with the best Neorealist films as an example of filmmaking that stares boldly at the pertinacity of the human spirit.

	Hossein Abedini
	Hossein Rahimi
	Hossein Mahjoub
	Mohammad Amir Naji
	Zahra Bahrami
	Hassan Hassandust - Editor
	Behzad Kazzazi - Production Designer
	Behzad Kazzazi - Costume Designer
	Malek Jahan Khazai - Costume Designer
	Majid Majidi - Screenwriter
	Mohammad Davudi - Director of Photography
	Fouad Nahas - Producer
	Majid Majidi - Producer
	Ahmad Pezhman - Composer
	Majid Majidi - Director

New York Times
"...The lovely clarity of this story, which seems to have been drawn from the literature of an earlier age, is well served by the artful subtlety of the telling..." 12/07/2001 p.E12

Box Office
"...A sweet story of unconsummated love....Majidi's direction has never been smoother or more confident..." 01/01/2002 p.59

Chicago Sun-Times
"...Beautiful, thoughtful, romantic..." 05/19/2002 p.5

USA Today
"...Iranian director Majid Majidi remains a consummate visual poet..." 10/25/2002 p.16D

Entertainment Weekly
"...[A] delicate, melancholy story..." 05/17/2002 p.51