1001 films you must see before you die Part XV: 1995-1999

The White Balloon (Persian: بادکنک سفيد , Badkonake sefid, 1995) is the debut feature film of Iranian director Jafar Panahi, with a screenplay by Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami. The movie received many strong critical reviews and won numerous awards in the international film fairs around the world including the Prix de la Camera d'Or at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival.
It is the eve of the Iranian New Year. The film opens in a Teheran market where seven year old Razieh (Aida Mohammadkhani) and her mother are shopping. Razieh sees a goldfish in a shop and begins to nag her harried mother to buy it for the festivities instead of the skinny ones in her family's pond at home. Almost all of the film's major characters are briefly seen in this market scene, though the they won't be introduced to the viewer until later. On their way home mother and daughter pass a courtyard where a crowd of men has gathered to watch two snake charmers. Razieh wants to see what is happening but her mother pulls her daughter away, telling her that it is not good for her to watch these things.