Director: Abbas Kiarostami

Cast: Saeid, Hamid

Dow rahe hal baraye yek massaleh is a 1975 Iranian short documentary film directed by Abbas Kiarostami, running just five minutes. It presents a single childhood conflict between two schoolboys and unfolds the same moment twice — each time with a different resolution — making it one of Kiarostami's earliest and most concentrated experiments in storytelling.

What is Dow rahehal baraye yek massaleh about?

During a school break, two boys — Dara and Nader — get into a heated dispute over a damaged exercise book. Dara had borrowed it, and now Nader is left holding the torn pages. The film splits at this moment of friction and travels two separate roads. In one version, pride wins: neither boy backs down and the argument escalates into a physical scuffle. In the other, a small gesture shifts the mood entirely — the two sit down together and repair the book with a bit of glue, turning a rupture into cooperation. Kiarostami lets the children carry the scene naturally, without dramatic embellishment, trusting the simplicity of the situation to carry meaning.

Cast & crew

Abbas Kiarostami directs with the observational restraint that would define his career. The film features two young performers, credited as Saeid and Hamid, whose unguarded, naturalistic reactions lend the short its quiet authority. Kiarostami's early New Wave-influenced approach to working with non-professional child actors is already evident in how little the camera imposes on them.

Context & significance

Made through the Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults (Kanoon) in Tehran, this short belongs to a remarkable body of early work Kiarostami produced in the 1970s exploring ethics, choice, and consequence through the lens of Iranian childhood. For diaspora viewers, it offers a window into pre-revolution Iran — recognizable schoolyard rhythms, the social weight of small obligations, the tension between pride and reconciliation that runs through Persian interpersonal culture. Its two-ending structure anticipates the moral inquiry that would mark Kiarostami's later internationally celebrated features. At five minutes, it rewards multiple viewings and holds its own in any conversation about short-form Iranian cinema.

Where & how to watch

Dow rahe hal baraye yek massaleh is available on K-Time in its original Persian audio without subtitles. Watch on the web, on your TV, or on your phone — no VPN needed, no geo-blocking, and no extra download required. Subscription is flexible; cancel anytime.