tearjerker director

Chapter 1622 Children of Heaven

Of course the trip would not be delayed. Li Yi would retrace the Silk Road with his family and would slowly work on the script in his spare time.

"Little Shoes" does not have a big cast, and there is nothing too complicated about it.

In fact, if it were just Li Yi himself, he would not have made such a movie. After all, this is an Iranian movie with local customs and some taboos. But with the help of Abbas, a great local director, these would not be a problem.

In fact, when Li Yi sent the story script of "Little Shoes" to Abbas, Abbas was quite surprised after reading it.

I was surprised at the script and the simplicity of the story. I was also surprised that this story was different from other rural films. Although the film showed the poverty of Ali's family and the hardships in their lives, it did not criticize or resist anything like the films they had made in the past.

The theme of the movie is not like this, but it shows the daily life of the grassroots people.

This made Abbas feel a lot, because he suddenly realized that he didn't know when it started, but it seemed that these local directors began to be full of hostility and resentment, and when shooting films, they always liked to embed their own emotions, hostility and resentment.

So what is shown are all kinds of social injustice, various class confrontations, etc., but people forget that when there are more movies of this type, then an impression that is difficult to erase will make people feel that their people have always been living in dire straits.

Naturally, it is difficult for people to have a good impression of this country.

However, the stories in "The Little Shoes" or "Children of Heaven" made Abbas feel as if he had suddenly realized something. Yes, are those the only things in life?

Is there no happiness?

Can't they survive?

He reflected that he and other local directors seemed to have begun to break away from that class and began to look down on them from a high position, thinking that they should be full of resentment and should rise up in resistance, but they never stood in their position to think and see how they lived.

Li Yi was still traveling, so he handed the preparation work for the film directly to Abbas. Abbas took the initiative to ask to assist Li Yi and serve as the deputy director of the film.

When Li Yi finished his trip along the Silk Road, Abbas had almost finished his preparations, so Li Yi took over and started filming. The film itself was not a big production, it was even a very simple one, and with the help of Abbas, the local boss, it could definitely be finished very quickly.

The facts were just as Li Yi had thought, but what he didn't expect was that when he arrived, he found that not only Director Abbas was there, but also several well-known Iranian directors came and wanted to join the crew.

With so much work to do for free, Li Yi naturally would not refuse.

In fact, "Little Shoes" is really just a low-budget movie, but this movie is indeed quite different from many movies shot by local Iranian directors. Coupled with Li Yi's own international influence, these people are also happy to watch it.

The shoot went very smoothly!
The filming of this movie was completed in just over a month, and the subsequent editing also surprised directors such as Abbas. Although some media reported that there were almost no wasted shots in Li Yi's movies, they had thought it was a publicity gimmick. However, after the actual cooperation, they realized how crazy Li Yi was.

They are directors themselves, so they naturally know that it is impossible to have no wasted shots.

But for Li Yi, this is the fact.

At the strong request of Abbas and others, "Little Shoes" will participate in the "Dawn Festival", the largest international film festival in Iran.

Perhaps few people in China know about this film festival. After all, the three major European film festivals and the Oscars are currently the most influential film festivals.

In fact, Li Yi was not very clear about this film festival. After learning more about it, Li Yi discovered that this film festival did have a strong influence, although the initial requirements of the film festival were quite special.

1. The film festival must be directly related to Iranian films;
Second, the festival must give new prestige and vitality to Iranian cinema;

3. The festival must contribute to the study of the annual development of Iranian cinema;

4. Film festivals must help enhance the status of film artists in society as a whole.

Of course, "Little Shoes" definitely meets the requirements.

The "Dawn Ten" International Film Festival has been held for 18 times so far. The number of viewers has increased from in the first session to over a million. The number of cinemas showing films and the number of films exhibited have also steadily increased, playing an extremely important role in promoting the development of the Iranian film industry. The annual film festival is organized by official film professional organizations such as the "Farabi" Film Foundation, and is still held under the guidelines of the "Islamic Cultural Guidance Department". It has attracted more and more media participation. In addition, it is supported by non-official and even overseas organizations such as the "Iran Film Foundation". Its influence is gradually expanding, and it can be called the largest international film festival in West Asia and the Islamic world.

Of course, it may not be comparable to other major international film festivals in terms of scale and influence. Since 2015, the film festival has been divided into two parts. The original cycle in February each year is Iranian domestic films, while foreign films are included in the international part in April each year.

The two parts respectively include Asian Film Competition, International Film Competition, International Short Film Competition, International Documentary Competition and Iranian Film Competition, Iranian Short Film Competition and Iranian Documentary Competition.

Li Yi naturally had no objection to this.

The first screening of "Little Shoes" was naturally not a public screening, but an internal screening.

However, not only Iranian directors and film and television practitioners were present. In order to expand the influence of this film, Iranian directors such as Abbas also invited many international film practitioners to the scene.

Of course, many people come here because of its reputation.

After all, each of Li Yi’s “travel movies” is excellent.

It even won many awards, including "Cinema Paradiso", "The Chorus" and "Heidi", all of which gained huge reputation.

So, this time the movie "Children of Heaven" (Little Shoes) naturally attracted a lot of people.

Including Li Yi’s die-hard fans who came from far away in China, including Du Xianghai, Zhou Qingquan, and Liu Fei.

In fact, they didn't find it strange at all that Li Yi suddenly made an Iranian movie. After all, Li Yi had a criminal record, and traveling and making movies had become another label of his.

Soon, the movie began.

When the trilingual subtitles "Director Li Yi's work" appeared on the big screen, the audience burst into thunderous applause.

Yes, "Children of Heaven" also known as "Little Shoes" has three subtitles, one is Chinese, one is English, and the other is Persian.

Soon the movie plot begins.

During the day, the sun was shining brightly. In the shoe repair shop, the old shoemaker placed a pair of pink girl shoes on his knees, with a bow of the same color inlaid on the front cover of the shoe. He used his old hands to take a brush and apply some glue to the cracks on the uppers, then began to thread the needle and sew the cracks together. Finally, he put the shoes on the shoe rack and knocked them with a hammer.

The old shoemaker handed two shoes to the boy sitting next to him and said, "30 yuan."

The boy's name was Ali, he looked to be about eight or nine years old, with a dark complexion and a pair of big, clear, innocent eyes.

Ali handed over the money in his hand, and the old shoemaker took out a few coins and gave them to him: "Here is your change."

"Thank you." Ali stood up and walked out.

The old shoemaker smiled kindly: "You're welcome. Goodbye."

Ali walked out of the shoe shop, took out a black plastic bag as he walked forward, and put the repaired shoes in it.

The camera switched to a bakery. The bakery was doing booming business and there was a long queue outside.

The worker hooked a large naan from the stove and threw it on the low table. Ali knelt beside the table, folded the naan he had bought one by one, put them in the bag he brought with him, tied the bag, and then handed the coins in his hand to the worker.

Ali left the bakery and walked a few steps to the vegetable shop across the street. There were many wooden crates and some rotten plastic bags piled up in a mess outside the shop. He leaned the cloth bag against the crates, stuffed the black plastic bag into the gap between the crates, and then walked into the shop.

Ali: "Hello, Akka, I want potatoes."

The boss was busy counting money, and without even looking up, he casually grabbed a black plastic bag and handed it to Ali. Ali took the bag and returned to pack potatoes. After he had packed one or two, the boss said, "Not those, pick the ones at the bottom."

Ali reluctantly took out the big potato and put it back where it was, then squatted down to pick out the potatoes that were the size of ping-pong balls.

At this moment, an old man who was collecting scraps for exchange came to the store door with a cart and greeted the boss: "Hello. Can I take it?"

After seeing the shop owner nodded in agreement, he loaded the torn plastic bags, paper strips, etc. into the car, and finally threw the black bag that Ali contained his shoes into the car.

"Goodbye." The old man who collected scraps said goodbye and left.

Ali searched for a long time but couldn't pick out a few decent potatoes, so he just grabbed some and put them in the bag, then stood up and handed it to the boss.

The boss took the bag and weighed it in his hand: "65 yuan."

Ali: "My mom said we should count together."

The boss frowned and said, "Tell her you can't buy on credit anymore. At least pay her back first."

"Okay." Ali agreed happily, then walked out of the store to get the things he had placed on the cargo box.

He picked up the cloth bag, but when he looked down, he found that the black plastic bag was gone! He looked around but couldn't find it, so he put down his things, knelt on the ground and put his head into the gap to fetch it. Unexpectedly, the wooden crate collapsed with a bang, and the plates, vegetable baskets and other things on it also fell down with a clang, and tomatoes and other vegetables were scattered all over the floor. Ali timidly stepped aside, not knowing how to clean up the mess in front of him.

At this time, the boss rushed out and said, "What are you doing? You made a mess. Are you crazy?"

Ali said aggrievedly, "My sister's shoes are missing."

"Go away! Get out of here!" the boss cursed angrily and bent down to pick up vegetables.

Ali still doesn't give up: "I'll leave it here"

"I told you to get out!" The boss was still angry and picked up a tomato and threw it at him. Ali was so scared that he didn't even bother to take his things and ran away.

The boss picked up the plate of tomatoes and went back into the store. Ali took the opportunity to run back to get what he had left behind. Seeing this, the boss picked up the big broom by the door and rushed out: "Why don't you get out?!"

Ali picked up his things and ran away.

This opening plot surprised many people, because it was somewhat different from many of Li Yi's previous movies.

However, as always, there was no beating around the bush and the story was narrated in a very plain and truthful manner.

Ali went to help his sister repair her shoes, but when he went to buy potatoes, his shoes were taken away by a rag collector as part of his rag trade.

Ali ran out of breath, turning through narrow alleys, and after jumping over a threshold, the courtyard in front was his home.

Before he reached the gate of the courtyard, Ali heard bursts of noise coming from inside.

The man said, "If you don't pay the rent and use so much water, the orchard will run out of water!"

The woman replied: "I have a pile of laundry."

The man said again: "I don't care!"

Ali stopped outside the door and listened, and recognized the voices of his mother and the landlord. He pushed the door open a crack and slipped in carefully.

The camera gives a close-up of the exterior of Ali's home, which is a large compound where several families live together. There is a large round pond in the middle of the yard, and clothes, sheets and other things are hung above the yard. It is full of the atmosphere of life, but it also makes people understand that the living environment of Ali's family is not good.

Ali's mother and the landlord stood facing each other, apparently arguing about the use of water.

Mother: "Don't you wash the clothes?"

The landlord said sarcastically: "Why not wash the neighbor's carpet as well? It's just a side job."

Mother: “Why don’t you listen to my explanation?”

"You guys are going to kill me. The orchard will die after five months of non-payment." The landlord complained as he walked out.

The mother insisted: "Don't you have a family?"

Landlord: "I'm warning you, this is the last time."

Mother: "You should ask a man to take care of you and stop coming here."

Ali walked to the bottom of the stairs and was about to take off his shoes and go into the house. His mother, who was crouching over and washing the carpet, saw her son coming back and said, "Ali, ask Sarah to put the baby to sleep, and then go peel potatoes."

Ali said nothing, and walked up the steps gloomily. He did not go directly into the house, but looked in through the glass window on the door.

In the room, sister Sarah was sitting on the carpet facing the door, she put her little brother between her legs and rocked him. Sarah smiled happily when she saw her brother coming back.

Ali pushed the door open and walked straight to the low cabinet. He pulled out a newspaper from underneath, opened his bag and put the cake on it.

Seeing her brother remained silent, Sarah couldn't help but ask, "Ali, did you get my shoes?"

Ali deliberately changed the subject: "Mom said she would peel potatoes after the baby fell asleep."

Sarah pressed, “Did you go get your shoes?”

Ali: “I got it.”

Sarah couldn't wait: "Did he fix it?"

Ali: “Fixed.”

Sarah listened and put her brother on the blanket. Ali secretly watched her actions and saw her stand up and walk out. He quickly stepped forward to block her way and asked, "Where are you going?"

Sarah: "I want to go look at my shoes."

At this point, Ali had to tell the truth: "Your shoes are missing."

"You're lying." Sarah thought her brother was joking with her and didn't believe it at all.

Ali almost cried out in grievance: "I didn't lie to you. I went shopping and my shoes disappeared. I looked everywhere but couldn't find them."

(End of this chapter)