Homework

After a brief period during which he combined his studies in fine art with a job as a traffic warden, the Iranian master Abbas Kiarostami soon turned his attention to film by making television commercials. In 1969, he was invited to set up the film department at Kanoon (then known as the Centre for the Intellectual Development of Children and Adolescents). Many of the films from that period, including the later WHERE IS THE FRIEND’S HOUSE? (1987), are largely set in schools and classrooms. This gave Kiarostami the opportunity to develop his now widely acclaimed cinematic language.

HOMEWORK is a wonderful example from that period. The premise is simple: Kiarostami asks pupils at a primary school in Tehran for their views on homework. What follows is an unfiltered portrait of children growing up in times of war, yet striving to lead a normal childhood. Their struggles with doing their homework emerge from the conversations. Among the obstacles is their parents’ illiteracy.

When the children are asked about their dream job for the future, their answers vary, but one goal is mentioned with striking frequency: “To kill Saddam.” HOMEWORK is set against the backdrop of the Iran-Iraq War. Their responses lead to the heart-wrenching realisation that the childhoods of these five- and six-year-olds have been marked by fear and sorrow.

HOMEWORK does not shy away from exposing the very heart of Iranian culture: a cruel dictatorship built on false ideologies and outdated moral values that have been entrenched for centuries and are perpetuated, as Kiarostami emphasises, by a failing education system.