The Beautiful City

Beautiful City
Directed byAsghar Farhadi
Written byAsghar Farhadi
Produced byIraj Taghipoor
StarringTaraneh Alidoosti
Faramarz Gharibian
Babak Ansari
Hossein Farzi-Zadeh
Ahu Kheradmand
CinematographyAli Loghmani
Edited byShahrzad Pouya
Music byHamidreza Sadri
Release date
  • February 1, 2004 (2004-02-01) (FIFF)
Running time
101 minutes
CountryIran
LanguagePersian

Beautiful City (Persian: شهر زیبا /Shahr-e Ziba/) is a 2004 Iranian drama film directed by Asghar Farhadi.

Title

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The film is named after a neighborhood in western Tehran called Shahr-e ziba in Farsi, which can be translated as “Beautiful City”. Tehran’s Center for Correction and Rehabilitation, the juvenile detention center featured in the film, is located in that district.[1][2]

Plot

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Akbar celebrates his 18th birthday in Tehran’s Center for Correction and Rehabilitation. He has been held in the juvenile detention center for committing murder at the age of sixteen when he was condemned to death. Legally speaking, he had to reach the age of eighteen so that the conviction could be carried out. Now, Akbar is transferred to prison to await the day of his execution. A'la, a friend of Akbar, who himself has undergone imprisonment for burglary, soon after his release tries desperately to gain the consent of Akbar's plaintiff so as to stop the execution.

Cast

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Awards and nominations

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Year Group Award Recipients and nominees Result
2004 Fajr Film Festival Crystal Simorgh Award – Best Sound Mixing Hassan Zahedi Won
35th International Film Festival of India Golden Peacock (Best Film) Asghar Farhadi Won
Special Jury Award Faramarz Gharibian Won
Warsaw International Film Festival Grand Prix Asghar Farhadi Won
2005 Split Film Festival FIPRESCI Prize Asghar Farhadi Won

References

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  1. ^ “Beautiful City review” by Ken Fox, 2004, TV Guide: https://www.tvguide.com/movies/beautiful-city/review/2000115534/
  2. ^ The same district and detention center has been featured in other Iranian films. See, for instance, “Iranian director Oskui’s “Calendar” joins Fajr gala,” February 3, 2007, Tehran Times: https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/136670/Iranian-director-Oskui-s-Calendar-joins-Fajr-gala
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