''A Time for Drunken Horses'' ( ku, Dema hespên serxweş; fa, زمانی برای مستی اسب‌ها, italic=yes, ''Zamani barayé masti-e asbha'') is a 2000 Kurdish language film directed by

Bahman Ghobadi Bahman Ghobadi ( fa, بهمن قبادی; ; born 1 February 1969 in Baneh, Kurdistan province, Iran) is an Iranian Kurdish film director, producer and writer. He belongs to the " new wave" of Iranian cinema. Biography He was born in Baneh, a K ...

and produced in

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

. It was a co-winner of the ''Caméra d'Or'' award at the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

in 2000. Leonard Maltin notes that the film was "written by the director and shot in his native village, with a cast of extraordinary non-professionals."

Plot

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish languages *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern Kurdistan **Eastern Kurdistan **Northern Kurdistan **Western Kurdistan See also * Kurd (dis ...

family is trying to survive after the death of its parents. ''Ayoub'', the eldest boy in the family, becomes the head of the household and must do whatever work available to survive. ''Madi'', Ayoub's handicapped brother, is in need of a medical operation. ''Ayoub'' goes to great lengths to collect money for the operation by smuggling truck tires with a group of Kurdish villagers near the Iran-Iraq border. Ayoub ultimately falls short of his intended goal and his uncle decides to marry off his sister in return for the groom's family financing Madi's operation on the Iraqi side of the border. When they arrive the mother of the groom refuses to accept Madi and agrees to give Ayoub and his uncle a mule as compensation. Ayoub decides to take the mule to Iraq where it is worth more, and sell it to pay for his brother's surgery. Some smugglers let him come along with him. They use mules to carry goods and feed them whisky allowing them to better survive the harsh mountain winter. But they are ambushed while heading to the border, and the horses are too drunk to carry on. Ayoub narrowly manages to escape, and the last shot is of him and his brother crossing the border.

Cast

*Ayoub Ahmadi *Rojin Younessi *Amaneh Ekhtiar-dini *Madi Ekhtiar-dini *Kolsolum Ekhtiar-dini *Karim Ekhtiar-dini *Rahman Salehi *Osman Karimi *Nezhad Ekhtiar-dini

Reception

Review aggregator website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

has an 85% "fresh" score based on 35 reviews. Leonard Maltin gave the film 3½ (out of 4) stars, stating the following: "The everyday struggle that these children go through just to survive is starkly, movingly conveyed."Leonard Maltin, editor. ''Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide, 2015 Edition: The Modern Era.'' Signet, 2014.

Awards

*Best Film Award, Golden Camera (

Caméra d'Or The Caméra d'Or ("''Golden Camera''") is an award of the Cannes Film Festival for the best first feature film presented in one of the Cannes' selections (Official Selection, Directors' Fortnight The Directors' Fortnight (french: Quinzaine des ...

, France, 2000. *Special Jury Award, Silver Hugo,

Chicago International Film Festival The Chicago International Film Festival is an annual film festival held every fall. Founded in 1964 by Michael Kutza, it is the longest-running competitive film festival in North America. Its logo is a stark, black and white close up of the comp ...

, USA, 2000. *Best Feature Award, Edinburgh Film Festival, Scotland, UK, 2000. *Best Feature Award,

Santa Fe Film Festival The Santa Fe Film Festival is a non-profit organization which presents important world cinema that represents aesthetic, critical, and entertainment standards highlighting New Mexican film. The organization partners with educational groups, schools, ...

, Fort Lauderdale, USA, 2000. *Grand Jury Award,

São Paulo International Film Festival The São Paulo International Film Festival ( pt, Mostra Internacional de Cinema de São Paulo), also known internationally as Mostra, is an annual film festival held in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. A non-profit event, the festival is organized ...

, Brazil, 2000. *Best Feature, Banff International Film Festival, Canada, 2000. *Special Jury Award,

Gijón International Film Festival The Gijón International Film Festival ( ast, Festival Internacional de Cine de Xixón or ''FICXixón'') is an annual film festival held in Gijón, a city in northwest Spain. History The festival's origins date back to 1963. In the beginning ...

, Spain, 2000. *Best feature Award, Children Film Festival, Isfahan, Iran, 2000.

Home media

The film was released on VHS in letterbox format on 29 July 2003. Lorber Films (Kino) released it on DVD in Region 1 on 15 February 2011, with English subtitles.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Time For Drunken Horses 2000 films Iranian war drama films Kurdish films Kurdish-language films Persian-language films Films directed by Bahman Ghobadi Caméra d'Or winners Films about children