Harmonica

Director: Amir Naderi

1973 / 76min / 4K DCP

The eponymous instrument becomes a tool for manipulation in Naderi’s tale of innocence and exploitation, an allegory for the carrot-on-a-stick manipulation of the Third World by colonial powers. Gifted a rare harmonica imported from Japan, a well-to-do boy soon finds himself the envy of his peers—and discovers that he can leverage that envy into power, with one of the gang seemingly willing to submit himself to any humiliation for a few moments with the beloved object. Edited by fellow Iranian New Wave stalwart Sohrab Shahid-Saless and offering glorious views of the sun-splashed south of the country, Naderi’s tragicomic film was produced under the auspices of the Kanoon institution, or Center for the Intellectual Development of Child and Adolescent, who around the same time were helping to launch the career of Abbas Kiarostami.

Distributor: mk2 Films

Restored in 4K under the supervision of Roashana Laboratory.

Introduction by programmer Edo Choi on Sunday, February 1st

Part of Travel Companions: Bahram Beyzaie & Amir Naderi