Children of Heaven

The tale of a young boy, Ali, and his little sister, Zahra, portrays the love, concern and devotion of a brother to his sister. The role of Ali was played by Amir Farrokh Hashemian and Zahra was played by Bahare Seddiqi. 

Ali looses his sister's shoes while returning from the shoemakers' shop. He stops at the grocers' when the shoes are accidentally picked up by the garbageman. Ali searches everywhere for them but does not find them. His parents were too poor to afford new shoes, so the two children did not tell their parents that Zahra's shoes were lost. 

Ali had an old pair of sneakers which both the children exchanged and wore to school. It was very difficult to do so as there was only a short interval between the ending of Zahra's school and the beginning of Ali's school, but they managed like this for several days. 

One day, Ali learns of a long-distance running race in which the third prize was a week at a vacation camp and a pair of sneakers. In his frantic attempt to reach the finish, he accidentally comes first. Ali, unaware that his father had bought Zahra and him two new pairs of shoes, was very upset that he was not able to win the sneakers. The last part of the film shows Ali dipping his blistered and aching feet in a pool.

The last shot of the film struck me the most. The blisters on Ali's feet showed that his emotional attachment to his sister overrides his physical pain. Ali, the lead character in the film affected me the most. He taught me a very valuable lesson in life. From him, I realized the value and importance of our relationships and the bonds we have with our family.

The film too revolved around the same theme and sensitized me to the importance of love, care, affection and sacrifice for our familial bonds, duties and roles, be it that of a parent, sibling or child.