Center for the literary arts in New York State
(Iran, 1987, 83 minutes, color, Persian/Farsi with English subtitles)
Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami (1940-2016) is widely
regarded as one of the greatest filmmakers of world cinema.
"Where is the Friend's Home?" -- the Iran title "Khane-Ye Doust Kodjast?" is sometimes translated as "Where is the Friend's House?" -- is the first in Kiarostami’s world-renowned trilogy set in the village of Koker, Iran. Digitally restored for release in 2019, Kiarostami’s film tells the story of a young boy's epic quest to return a friend’s notebook that he has accidentally taken home from school.
Kiarostami's films have received praise from his contemporaries. He won a Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 1997 and a Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival in 2000. Jean-Luc Godard has said, "Film begins with DW Griffith and ends with Abbas Kiarostami" and Martin Scorsese praised him, "Kiarostami represents the highest level of artistry in the cinema," according to Stuart Jeffries in The Guardian in 2005.
Where is the Friend's Home?
Award-winning Iranian film
7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 1, 2019
Page Hall, UAlbany downtown campus
135 Western Avenue, Albany
Free and open to the public
Classic Film Series
From the New York Times "What We're Watching" column:
“Where Is the Friend’s House?” has all the qualities that put Iranian cinema on the map: formal simplicity, emotional directness, and the use of children as a window into societal ills. As the film’s resolute hero wanders off in search of his friend, Kiarostami contrasts his moral courage and determination with the grown-ups who misinterpret him, condescend to him, or snort at the urgency of his mission. “Where Is the Friend’s House?” locks onto the boy’s thoughtful, sympathetic gaze and questions the authority figures who can’t meet it.
About The Classic Film Series
The NYS Writers Institute’s Classic Film Series, presented with support from Marc Guggenheim, UAlbany Class of ‘92, features screenings of domestic and international films of distinction and film festivals devoted to the work of particular directors, producers, or screenwriters.
The series has included rare films culled from archives and private collections, pre-release screenings from major studios, contemporary international offerings, as well as classics made in the U.S. The Institute will launch the Albany Film Festival in March 2020.
Some of the filmmakers and screenwriters who have visited the Institute have included Hal Ashby, Hector Babenco, Costa-Gavras, Tomas Gutierrez-Alea, James Ivory and Ismail Merchant, Neil Jordan, Spike Lee, Albert Mayseles, Gordon Parks, Sr., Raoul Peck, D.A. Pennebacker and Chris Hegedus, Bob Rafelson, Phil Alden Robinson, Wallace Shawn, Ron Shelton, Christine Vachon, Agnes Varda, and Robert Wise, and Doug Wright.
