Kiarostami’s first feature focuses on a boy in a provincial city so avid to get to Tehran to see a soccer match that he’ll lie to adults and cheat other kids. A quest film that’s also a study of youthful obsession, it’s filmed in edgy black and white with a quiet energy that matches its hero’s. The Traveler has an acridly ironic ending and one of the best performances by a child in Kiarostami’s early work.

Description courtesy of Janus films.

“Kiarostami’s patient, detailed, and wry attention to the infinitesimal practicalities of daily life yields a deep critical cross-section of Iranian society.” – The New Yorker

“[The Traveler] is a well-observed, witty and touching film about a 10-year-old boy’s determination to obtain enough money, by hook or by crook, to get from his small town to a big football match in Tehran.” – The Guardian

“It’s a beautiful, tragicomic story in its own right, but as the first in what would become a succession of variations on a formula, it stands as a vital assemblage of natural inclinations, most of which Kiarostami would hone-in on later, and a handful which remain unique to The Traveler.” – In Review