The Cinematheque

“A deliriously beautiful film seething with righteous anger … With its extended poetic montage, sparse dialogue, and haunting, crystalline photography, The Runner offers something uniquely powerful.”

Chris Shields, Screen Slate

Bahram Beyzaie’s Journey was, he said, his favourite of all his films. Its restoration premiered last year at Il Cinema Ritrovato, and was—by far—the most-mentioned discovery of the festival in an annual poll. The film is a search for a boy’s parents, which travels from the churning activity of Tehran to its outskirts—and from the scale of a single child and his friend toward mythic proportions. The Runner, which was edited by Beyzaie, is Amir Naderi’s masterpiece. An elementally charged work of autobiography made after the wartime destruction of his hometown, the film, in every shot, is concerned with the boundless kineticism that exemplifies and pushes beyond the norms of early experiences. Amiro (Madjid Niroumand) is an orphan making his own living. Each job he performs is seen in extreme telephoto shots against the beating waves and sunlight of his coastal hometown. When he begins to acquire literacy, his education is rhythmically synced to all his other activities.

“Seemingly a children’s folk tale, Journey is so visually singular that it evades easy breakdown. It is allegorical, but allegory is the engine; visual density the result.” Ehsan Khoshbakht, Il Cinema Ritrovato 2025

“In Naderi’s clever mise-en-scène the omnipresence of ocean liners, planes, and trains—modes of escape unavailable to him—heighten Amiro’s sense of entrapment and hopelessness … Naderi [also] shows a keen understanding of children’s camaraderie and determination.” Ted Shen, Chicago Reader

Journey
سفر
Iran 1972
Bahram Beyzaie
33 min. DCP In Farsi with English subtitles

The Runner
دونده
Iran 1984
Amir Naderi
91 min. DCP In Farsi with English subtitles