Iran, 1987, 83 min, 2K DCP, Dir. Abbas Kiarostami, Not Rated, Janus Films


Where is the Friend's House?

Sunday, 2/9

“A miniature epic about a schoolboy trying to return a classmate’s notebook; an obsessional quest that takes on the contours of a parable. It’s about making discoveries and cherishing what’s in the world - including things that we can’t understand.” – Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader

Twenty-five years ago, Guillermo Cabrera Infante presented Abbas Kiarostami onstage at the Olympia Theater in downtown Miami and the director introduced the first film in his sublime interlacing trilogy set in the northern Iranian village of Koker — for the first time in the U.S. A premise of fable-like simplicity — a boy searches for the home of his classmate whose school notebook he has accidentally taken — is transformed into a miraculous child’s eye adventure of the everyday. His quest becomes both a revealing portrait of Iranian society and a touching parable about the meaning of personal responsibility. Suffused with all the wonder, beauty, tension, and mystery one day can contain, Where is the Friend’s House? established Kiarostami’s reputation as one of cinema’s most sensitive and profound humanists.

Bellinis will be served courtesy of Magna-Tech Electronic.


In 2020 CGAC Director of Programming Nat Chediak, dean of South Florida film exhibitors and founder of the Miami Film Festival, celebrates his 50th anniversary in Film. CGAC kicks off the festivities with a year-long series of films from around the world that have shaped his unique sensibility for the medium. Mr. Chediak will be on hand to introduce the films and engage the audience in conversation. Nat welcomes the opportunity to meet friends old and new and envisions the program as a golden opportunity to share with us his passion for Film in what is sure to be, indirectly, an ongoing master class in Film Appreciation.

Check out the rest of our The Films of My Life program!