Willow and Wind (1999)

When an Iranian boy accidentally breaks his classroom window, his teacher gives him one day to replace it. This sets in motion a seemingly simple yet deceptively complex quest in which he must arrange money himself, find a glazier, and eventually trudge back to school carrying a life-sized windowpane through a stormy landscape. Written by Abbas Kiarostami and directed by Mohammad-Ali Talebi, the film fits perfectly within child-centered Iranian cinema in which simple stories leave room for larger themes. Talebi makes the vast, green landscape a character in itself in which nature is simultaneously beautiful and unrelenting. With its slow pace, austere style, and almost fairytale-like atmosphere, Willow and Wind turns a childlike task into a suspenseful parable about responsibility, powerlessness, and growing up. A small, poetic film that finds tension in the simplest of things. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Mohammad-Ali Talebi. in collaboration with Film-Plateau