Avaze gonjeshk-ha (2008)

Director:

Majid Majidi

Writers:

Majid Majidi (writer)
Mehran Kashani (writer)

Release Date:

1 October 2008 (Iran)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Chasing dreams. Finding hope.

Plot:

When an ostrich-rancher focuses on replacing his daughter's hearing aid, which breaks right before crucial exams...

Plot Keywords:

Iran | Hearing Aid | Honesty | Motorcycle | Deaf Child

Awards:

7 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Mohammad Amir Naji	...	Karim (as Reza Najie)
Maryam Akbari	...	Nargess
Kamran Dehghan	...	Abbas
Hamid Aghazi	...	Hossein
Schabnam Akhlaghi	...	Haneyeh
Neshat Nazari	...	Zarah
Hassan Rezaee	...	Ramezan
Ponya Salehi	...	Ponya

Directed by
Majid Majidi

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Mehran Kashani		writer
Majid Majidi		writer

Produced by
Majid Majidi	....	producer
Javad Noruzbegi	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Hossein Alizadeh

Cinematography by
Turaj Mansuri		(as Tooraj Mansouri)

Film Editing by
Hassan Hassandoost

Production Design by
Asghar Nezhadimani

Makeup Department
Saeid Malekan	....	makeup artist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Sirrus Hassanpur	....	first assistant director

Sound Department
Mohammad Reza Delpak	....	sound re-recording mixer
Yadollah Najafi	....	sound recordist
Reza Narimizadeh	....	sound editor

Production Companies

• Majid Majidi Film Production (I) (II)

Distributors

• E1 Entertainment (2010) (USA) (DVD)
• Regent Releasing (2009) (USA) (all media) (subtitled)
• ARD Degeto Film (2009) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Cathay-Keris Films (2009) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• Cinemien (2009) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Cineplex (2009) (Taiwan) (theatrical)
• Regent Releasing (2009) (USA) (theatrical)
• Seven Films (2008) (Greece) (theatrical)
• Cine-plex (2009) (Taiwan) (all media)
• Fortissimo Films (2008) (non-USA) (all media)
• Homescreen (2009) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Koch Vision (2010) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Reeltime Creative  advertising art (Trailers, Posters, Websites)
• Studio Moon  sound post-production

Also Known As:

"The Song of Sparrows" - Europe (English title) (festival title), International (English title)
"A Canção dos Pardais" - Brazil (cable TV title)
"Das Lied der Sperlinge" - Germany (imdb display title)
"Kai ta spourgitia tragoudoun" - Greece (transliterated ISO-LATIN-1 title)
"La canción de los gorriones" - Argentina (imdb display title)
"Le chant des moineaux" - France
"Piesn wróbli" - Poland

MPAA:

Rated PG for brief mild language

Runtime:

Germany:96 min (Berlin International Film Festival) | USA:96 min | Argentina:96 min

Country:

Iran

Language:

Persian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

USA:PG | Singapore:PG | Australia:PG | South Korea:All | Argentina:Atp

Filming Locations:

Tehran, Iran

Company:

Majid Majidi Film Production (I) (II)

Trivia:

Iran's 2009 Academy Awards official submission to Foreign-Language Film category.

Goofs:

Factual errors: Spoiler: The ostrich that escaped is male. Therefore it couldn't have laid those eggs found in the field. Male ostriches are big and it's colors are black and white; females are small and gray. The last scene shows an male ostrich in a typically male mating performance.

A Tale To Charm The Birdies Out Of The Trees (no matter what size they are)

Majid Majidi has gone and done it again. He has crafted a simple story of a loving family man (although not without some minor flaws)who has several humbling experiences in life. Karim (played very well by Majidi regular,Mohammad Amir Naji,here known as Reza Naji)has a cushy job working at an ostrich farm,keeping watch over the king sized birds. Trouble erupts when one of the birds escapes from the pen,resulting in Karim losing his job. Good fortune happens to drop in Karim's lap when he ends up becoming a taxi driver in downtown Tehran. Other plot elements are dropped into the mix in the form of his eldest daughter,Haniyeh (Shabnam Aklaghi)who is partially deaf,loses her hearing aid,because of her younger brother,Hussein (Hamed Aghazi),who wants to start a goldfish hatchery in an unused well,who loses the hearing aid in the well/muck hole that it is. Toss in an understanding & loving wife,caring neighbors,and others,and you have yourself a loving film that is a treat for the eye & other senses. Majid Majidi directs from a screenplay written by Majidi & Mehran Kashani. The cinematography by Tooraj Mansouri successfully manages to capture the rugged Iranian landscape,with momentary bursts of colour (check out the scene of Naji carrying a blue door across the bleak desert-like landscape of the Iranian countryside,as well as some other breath taking scenes that are a treat for the eye). Rated PG by the MPAA for some brief,rude language,but contains nothing else to offend.