The Koker Trilogy (Criterion Collection)

Where Is The Friend's House? (1987)

As he sat down to his homework, young Ahmed (Babek Ahmadpour) realized that he had accidentally taken a classmate's notebook. Unaware of the other boy's address in the neighboring village--and fully aware that he'd face expulsion for having lost the notes--Ahmed embarked on a determined door-to-door hunt to try and bring them back. Wonderful rumination on youth and duty from Abbas Kiarostami also stars Ahmed Ahmedpour, Kheda Barech Defai. 83 min. C/Rtg: NR

And Life Goes On (1992)

Choosing to merge art and life--most particularly, the aftermath of the 1990 Manjil–Rudbar earthquake--Abbas Kiarostami's opus follows a filmmaker (Farhad Kheradmand) and his young son (Buba Bayour) on a road trip to Koker to see how the performers from "Where Is the Friend's House?" had been impacted. Their interactions with the surprisingly stoic survivors they encounter make for a memorable portrait of humanity. AKA: "Life, and Nothing More." 95 min. C/Rtg: NR

Through The Olive Trees (1994)

Springboarding off of the two young marrieds depicted in "And Life Goes On," Abbas Kiarostami crafted a wistful "making-of" comedy, as the actor (Hossein Rezai) cast as the husband has to deal with his growing--and completely unreciprocated--affections for his co-star (Tahereh Ladanian). Mohamad Ali Keshavarz also stars. 102 min. C/Rtg: NR

Widescreen; Soundtrack: Persian; Subtitles: English; audio commentary, featurettes; more. In Persian with English subtitles.