Children of Heaven

Children of Heaven (Persian: بچه‌های آسمان, romanized: Bæccähâ-ye âsmân) is a 1997 Iranian family drama film written and directed by Majid Majidi.

Ali's family, living in a poor South Tehran neighbourhood, has financial troubles, so he fears telling his parents he has lost Zahra's shoes.

Ali, among two others, scores high on a test, and his teacher awards him a gold-colored pen; he gives it to Zahra to partially make up for losing her shoes.

She later brings Ali with her for a confrontation, but from hiding, they discover that Roya's father is blind and leave without further action.

Finally, Ali learns of a high-profile children's 4-kilometer footrace involving many schools in the province; the third prize is one week at a vacation camp and a pair of sneakers.

In the final shot, Ali, dejected as his sneakers are torn from the race, is shown dipping his bare blistered feet in a pool.

Some versions include an epilogue, revealing that Ali eventually achieves success in a racing career.

Roger Ebert's review in the Chicago Sun-Times called it "very nearly a perfect movie for children" that "lacks the cynicism and smart-mouth attitudes of so much American entertainment for kids and glows with a kind of good-hearted purity".

[6] After the film had become well known worldwide due to the Oscar nomination, it was shown in several European, South American, and Asian countries between 1999 and 2001.

[7] While watching the film, Singaporean filmmaker Jack Neo and his wife were moved to "holding hands and crying after seeing the love shared by the children".

[8][9] Children of Heaven inspired Neo to explore issues faced by Singaporean youths in his 2002 film I Not Stupid.