''Son of Maryam'' ( ), (1998) is an Iranian drama film directed by

Hamid Jebelli Hamid Jebelli or Hamid Jebeli (; born ) is an Iranian stage and film actor, director, and voice actor. He was born in Tehran, Iran. He has directed two films; ''Khab-e Sefid'' ('White Dream') and '' Pesar-e Maryam'' ('Son of Mary'). He is also t ...

and starring Rafik Dergabrilian, Mohsen Falsafin, Hadi Nainizadeh. The movie is about a young

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

boy who befriends an Assyrian priest and learns tolerance toward Christians in post-revolution

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

Synopsis

Rahman (Falsafin) Can is a milk delivery boy in a small village in Iran and is also the village's mosque crier. One day, he delivers some milk to the priest (Dergabrilian) living in the church on the outside of town. Amidst the villages preparations for

Ashura Ashura (, , ) is a day of commemoration in Islam. It occurs annually on the tenth of Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar. For Sunni Muslims, Ashura marks the parting of the Red Sea by Moses and the salvation of the Israelites ...

, the priest's preparations for the Feast of Mary go unnoticed except by young Rahman. The young boy befriends the priest and spends his time sneaking his blind friend Davoud (Nainizadeh) into the church and helping the priest prepare for the feast, much to his father and grandmother's chagrin. One day, while affixing a

crucifix A crucifix (from the Latin meaning '(one) fixed to a cross') is a cross with an image of Jesus on it, as distinct from a bare cross. The representation of Jesus himself on the cross is referred to in English as the (Latin for 'body'). The cru ...

to the front of the Church, a rung on the ladder the priest is using breaks, and he severely injures himself. Rahman takes care of the priest until he is told to go to a nearby city, where the priest's brother lives. In the city he meets a young Christian by the name of Rafik who takes him to the city's church where he observes a Christian service for the first time. Upon his return to his home village with the brother, the brother takes the old priest back to the city with him for medical care. The priest gives Rahman the keys to the church and a medal. In the next scene, the brother returns with a letter and a photo of Rahman and the priest together. The priest apparently has died. The film ends with the Village mourners begin their pilgrimage for Ashura.

References

Iranian drama films 1998 films 1990s Persian-language films 1998 drama films Persian-language drama films {{Iran-film-stub