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Farhang Foundation and the UCLA Film & Television Archive present
A Celebration of Iranian Cinema Screening

Sun Children

Directed by Academy Award Nominated Majid Majidi
Featuring Ali Nasirian, Rouhollah Zamani, Mahdi Mousavi

FEB 12 - MAR 15

Sun Children will be available for streaming via our unique link from February 12 through March 15. Admission is $10, and includes a special Q&A with Director Majid Majidi and UCLA's film programmer Paul Malcolm.

Portion of your purchase will support the UCLA Archive’s public programs.

SUN CHILDREN is the story of 12-year-old ALI and his three friends. Together they work hard to survive and support their families, doing small jobs in a garage and committing petty crimes to make fast money. In a turn of events that seems miraculous, Ali is entrusted to find hidden treasure underground. He recruits his gang, but first, to gain access to the tunnel, the children must enroll at the Sun School, a charitable institution that tries to educate street kids and child laborers, close to where the treasure is located.

Iranian writer-director Majid Majidi earned his international reputation, in part, for sensitive portrayals of the inner lives of children that includes the Oscar-nominated Children of Heaven (1997). Newcomer Nima Javidi has established himself more recently as a writer-director of taut thrillers, including the Fajr Film Festival award-winner The Warden (2019). Neither shies away from depicting the stark realities of contemporary Iran that circumscribe their characters’ choices. All of this comes together in Sun Children, directed by Majidi from a script co-written with Javidi about a band of street urchins who undertake a daring caper for a local Fagin. Led by the charismatic Ali, the motley crew cons its way into a school for at-risk youth so they can tunnel from its basement to the graveyard across the street where a buried treasure lies. Majidi extracts a gripping tension from their inch-by-inch efforts as they evade detection, roll with the vicissitudes of the adult world, and cling to the dreams that drive them on. After premiering to critical acclaim at the Venice Film Festival, Sun Children is Iran’s official selection for this year’s Oscar race for Best International Feature Film.

Color, in Persian with English Subtitles, 99 min.

Short Listed - Best International Film
2021 Academy Awards

Winner - Best Young Actor, Rouhollah Zamani
Venice Film Festival

"Sun Children is one of Majidi's very best films."
Hollywood Reporter

"Majidi's young ensemble makes the case loud and clear... All kids are created equal."
Variety

"Energetic and heartfelt... Sun Children crawls through the mud and emerges all the stronger."
The Guardian

"Tremendous... Crowd-pleasing..."
IndieWire