Details

Release year: 1995

Storyline

Several people try to help a little girl to find the money her mother gave her to buy a goldfish.

Top credits

Directors

Jafar Panahi

Writers

Cast

Aida Mohammadkhani — Razieh
Mohsen Kafili — Ali
Fereshteh Sadre Orafaiy — Mother (Madar)
Anna Borkowska — Old Lady (Pir_e Zan)

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Did you know

• The film unfolds in real time.

• Jafar Panahi has stated that during the making of his feature debut he "wanted to prove to myself that I can do the job, that I can finish a feature film successfully and get good acting out of my players." He also stated that "In a world where films are made with millions of dollars, we made a film about a little girl who wants to buy a fish for less than a dollar - this is what we're trying to show."

• In Iran, films depicting children are the most likely to avoid censorship or political controversy, and The White Balloon was screened exclusively in theaters that specialized in children's films. Because of this the film had low attendance on its initial run in Iranian theaters, with only 130,000 tickets sold.