homework 1989 film

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Directed by Abbas Kiarostami

Young male students at a local Iranian school are asked about their feelings on homework.

Babak Ahmadpoor Farhang Akhavan Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh Abbas Kiarostami Iraj Safavi

Director Director

Abbas Kiarostami

Producer Producer

Ali Reza Zarrin

Writer Writer

Editors editors.

Abbas Kiarostami Yavar Toorang

Cinematography Cinematography

Ali Asghar Mirzaie Farhad Saba Iraj Safavi

Composer Composer

Mohammadreza Aligholi

Sound Sound

Changiz Sayad Ahmad Asgari

Persian (Farsi)

Releases by Date

01 feb 1989, releases by country.

• Premiere Fajr Film Festival

86 mins   More at IMDb TMDb Report this page

Popular reviews

Review by Laura ★★★★

each of these kids are quick to associate abuse with the word punishment, but when they hear the word encouragement, their eyes are blank. and yet, the ending tells us that encouragement is passed between them. even though in most cases adults are not expressing encouragement or support, they have found it with each other. it doesn’t need to be taught. the act exists without knowing the definition. it’s something that is present underneath so much of kiarostami’s work – a silent trust.

homework proposed a slightly new definition of encouragement: allowing your fear to subside when in the presence of someone that sees you. the strength you gain from just being in the same room as someone that protects and loves you.

Review by Sahba ★★★½

Somebody be the Molaei to my Majid, please.

Review by BrandonHabes ★★★ 2

HOMEWORK is a hurricane of devastation from my man Abbas. This thing is pretty heavy and uncomfortable and explicitly sad. For 86min we listen to interview after interview of children describing the burden of homework, the abuse they face at home and school, and the lack of positive reinforcement that would otherwise buttress their academic confidence. 

Behind their words a deeper story is being told. A story about a problematic national mentality, one that normalizes abuse and grooms a future generation for letdown and punishment. 

The most interesting thing about the doc is how transparent the camera and film crew are in probing the parent-child/teacher-student relationship. The presence of the camera does something to the way these kids respond, almost…

Review by Stephen Gillespie ★★★★ 1

Kiarostami is outstanding at matching his movies form to their message. Whether it is the constrained monologues conveying isolation in Taste of Cherry , having people play themselves in Close-Up , there is always something about the approach that enriches the themes.

In Homework, the obvious facet to point to is having children talk about homework in their own words. This film is just Kiarostami asking people about homework (and, at points, wider education), his subjects mostly being children - young children. The real brilliance though is how he frames the interviews.

We have an oppressive, almost classroom like atmosphere. Kiarostami is framed as an inquiring teacher, with a camera operator pointing the lens straight at the students. As a viewer, we…

Review by pirateneckbeard ★★★★

Geez Abbas Kiarostami is just a smart director. He seems to telegraph his punches about trying to understand the education system in Iran by even stating at the beginning he doesn't know exactly what the subject is about but so smartly seeps in with these jabs at the society and how they are archaically stimming the growth of there own by not developing better skills to help and these kids know all about punishment(usually by belt) but very few know encouragement(usually by claps at best). I found it profound that he more or less bookended this film with these children doing there morning ritual of pledge to hate other nations and defend the Iranian people but in the end he…

Review by Zegan ★★★★½

Kiarostami did his Homework very well

Review by PopcornIdeology ★★★★

At this point Kiarostami could film an old man sneezing and I’d call it a groundbreaking testament to minimalist cinema.

Homework is just kids talking about homework. What starts out as an inquisitive search as to why kids don’t do there homework slowly morphs into an investigation of positive and negative reinforcement, the lasting effects of punishment, and I think at it’s core: Iranian culture as a whole. I was caught off guard by how invested I was in the film, and it’s clear as day where Kiarostami got his inspiration for Where is the Friend’s House.  

The one element of the film I’m a bit unsure of is the constant cutaways to the camera man, often using the same…

Review by Jerry McGlothlin ★★★★ 2

When children feel relaxed, comfortable and a sense of trust in those around them, they tend to tell the unvarnished truth, because they do not feel the need to put on airs or impress, nor do they feel they have anything to gain from it like status, acclaim, wealth, etc. like adults do. But, when children feel a sense of pressure and expectations in the environment around them, their word becomes unreliable out of a sense of sinless self-preservation, especially when they are coming from a home/school environment that is hostile or abusive.

In Homework , the infinitely empathetic Abbas Kiarostami interviews a series of children about their homework, but as is ever so common in the works of Kiarostami, a…

Review by Sally Jane Black 2

A deeply uncomfortable interview-documentary between Kiarostami (decked out in intimidating sunglasses and full movie-making mode) and school children, this film exposes ineffectual methods, troubled home lives, and an undercurrent of militaristic jingoism from the mouths of babes. Reality is, of course, unclear here, but there are moments of horror as what would now be termed child abuse is described over and over again--no matter how staged it is, it's clearly inspired by some actuality. You want to believe these sort of things are a matter of history now, but I doubt it is much, in Iran or in America.

Review by Darren Hughes ★★★★½

The last minute is a damn miracle.

Review by Darren Carver-Balsiger ★★★½ 2

Homework is a simple yet powerful documentary about the Iranian education system in the 1980s. It mostly consists of children being interviewed, and they give very frank answers that reveal much about what limits them. When discussing what prevents them from completing homework we learn that many have complicated family situations, or live of poverty, or have illiterate parents. Many also live in fear of punishment, which comes in the form of physical violence. It is made quite clear how strict Iranian society was for these children, who are hit by both parents and teachers. It's quite devastating to hear what some of these children faced. Homework also goes further, with footage early on that shows a strong religious and…

Review by luke? ★★★★½ 2

This is like the exact opposite of "fuck them kids". Not sure what that would be though. Maybe "appreciate them kids"?

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Directed by Abbas Kiarostami • 1989 • Iran

In Abbas Kiarostami’s second documentary feature about education, the filmmaker himself asks the questions, probing a succession of invariably cute first- and second-graders about their home situations and the schoolwork they must do there. It emerges that many parents are illiterate. Tellingly, many kids can define punishment (the corporal variety seems common) but not encouragement.

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Homework (Mashgh-e shab)

At Martyr Masumi School in Tehran on the heels of the Iran-Iraq War, Kiarostami interviews elementary aged boys about their homework. In his seemingly straightforward “research through images,” he gradually uncovers the darkness and trauma lurking behind their missing homework assignments: illiterate parents who can’t help them; emphasis on rote learning over critical, creative thought; internalization of moral judgements; and the overarching punitive threat that hovers over all of them. Providing both his view and that of the children’s—either the sunglassed director or his avuncular cinematographer next to the dark eye of the camera lens—Kiarostami continues with a line of inquiry that ultimately unsettles the innocence and charm of the children, who often smile as they describe their punishments. The investigation of a drama that erupts toward the end of the film elaborates the depth of the problems. The film’s critical stance marked the end of his relationship with Kanoon and led to the government banning its screening for three years.

Two Solutions for One Problem

In this irreverent parable about revenge, Kiarostami explores the options two friends have when confronted with a dispute.

Part of film series

Abbas Kiarostami, A Cinema of Participation

Screenings from this program april 2020, friday screenings postponed 24 april, where is the friend’s house.

Saturday Screenings postponed 25 April

And life goes on… aka life and nothing more.

A Wedding Suit

Sunday Screenings postponed 26 April

The wind will carry us.

Sunday Screenings postponed 03 May

Friday Screenings postponed 08 May

First case, second case.

Certified Copy

Saturday Screenings postponed 09 May

Sunday Screenings postponed 10 May

Kiarostami short films.

Monday Screenings postponed 11 May

Friday Screenings postponed 15 May

The traveler.

Like Someone in Love

Saturday Screenings postponed 16 May

Taste of cherry.

Sunday Screenings postponed 17 May

Monday screenings postponed 18 may.

Tuesday Screenings postponed 19 May

Sunday screenings postponed 24 may, the white balloon.

Friday Screenings postponed 29 May

Saturday screenings postponed 30 may, sunday screenings postponed 31 may.

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Homework documentary

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All images are copyrighted by their respective copyright holders and/or producers/distributors.

• Babak Ahmadpoor
• Farhang Akhavan
• Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh

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User history

Beautiful, interesting, incredible cinema.

In this documentary, Iranian schoolboys complain about the amount of homework they have to do.

Returning to the classroom after First Graders , Abbas Kiarostami interviews schoolboys, and just wait until you hear what tumbles from their mouths. Underneath a simple—and simply devastating—premise, Kiarostami unearths a maelstrom of suffering, indicating something rotten in the state of Iran.

Watch Homework

• 1 hr 26 min
• 7.8   (1,834)

Homework is a documentary movie. The movie is mostly about interviews about pupils and two of the pupils’ parents who attend Shahid Masumi School. They are asked their opinions on what they think of the tradition of assigning homework to students. Some issues like parents who are unable to help their children because of illiteracy are brought up in the documentary. Other things like embarrassing family issues are also talked about.

• Genres Documentary
• Cast Babak Ahmadpoor Farhang Akhavan Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh
• Director Abbas Kiarostami
• Release Date 1989
• Runtime 1 hr 26 min
• Language Persian
• IMDB Rating 7.8   (1,834)

Homework (1989)

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Homework (1989)

• July 24, 2021 | 8:00 PM - 9:20 PM | Saturday
• Oldham Theatre

2K RESTORATION Original Title: مشق شب / Mashqh-e shab Directed by: Abbas Kiarostami Runtime: 77 min Country: Iran Language: Persian, with English subtitles Rating: PG

SOUTHEAST ASIAN PREMIERE

Full Synopsis

In Kiarostami’s second documentary feature about education, the filmmaker himself asks the questions, interviewing a succession of invariably cute first- and second-graders about their home situations and the schoolwork they must do there. It emerges that many parents are illiterate. Tellingly, many kids can define punishment (the corporal variety seems common) but not encouragement.

Text by Godfrey Cheshire.

For the full Retrospective: Abbas Kiarostami programme, please refer here .

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Abbas Kiarostami

Babak Ahmadpoor

Farhang Akhavan

Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh

Iraj Safavi

Homework (movie, 1989)

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Young male students at a local Iranian school are asked about their feelings on homework.

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