A gang of streets kids is hired to pull off a dangerous heist in this Oscar-shortlisted coming-of-age drama from Iranian master director Majid Majidi.

On the rough-and-tumble streets of Tehran, 12-year-old Ali and his crew of adolescent street urchins are recruited by a crime boss to steal some treasure buried beneath a local school. The catch: the kids will have to enrol in the school to gain access to the tunnels underneath. With the plan set in motion, these juvenile miscreants are soon exposed to a different kind of education.

A master of evoking childhood on screen, Majidi (The Willow Tree, MIFF 2006; Children of Heaven, MIFF 1998) brings his deep sense of empathy to this film that plays as a blend of prison-break thriller and schoolyard caper, with social critique and 21st-century neo-realism thrown into the mix. Marvellous newcomer Rouhollah Zamani is arresting as the mischievous Ali, while Hooman Behmanesh’s cinematography is energetic and unsettled, matching the ever-intensifying action. Winner of several awards, including Best Film, at Iran’s Fajr Film Festival in 2020, Sun Children is a heartfelt and heart-rending appeal for the welfare of millions of kids exploited for child labour worldwide.

“Quite the thrill ride, mixing a Dickensian, social-realist account of children in poverty in Tehran with a kinetic, far-fetched heist movie and a well-meaning drama.” – IndieWire