Bashu, the Little Stranger

Bashu, the Little Stranger Persian , is a 1986 Iranian drama film directed by Bahram Beizai. The film was produced in 1986, and was released in 1989. This multiethnic film was the first Iranian film to make use of the northern dialect of Persian, Gilaki, in a serious context rather than comic relief. Susan Taslimi playing the main character is Gilaki herself.

The film is about a young boy from Khuzestan province, in the south of Iran, during the IranIraq War. His parents are killed in a bombing raid on his home village and he escapes on a cargo truck to the north. Eventually he gets off and finds refuge on the farm of a Gilaki woman, Nai, who has two young children of her own. Initially, Nai tries to shoo Bashu away, but later takes pity on him and leaves food out for him. Although Nai is initially ambivalent toward Bashu, and he is initially suspicious of her, they come to trust one another, and Bashu becomes a member of the family, even calling Nai mom. Being that Bashu speaks Arabic, while Nai and her children speak Gilaki, they have trouble communicating with each other, although Bashu is able to speak and read Persian for example in the scene where he picks up the school text book, reading a passage from it in an attempt to appease the children fighting. In a gesture of reciprocation and perhaps love, Bashu cares for Nai when she falls ill, as she had done for him, crying for her and beating a drum in prayer.Throughout the film, Nai maintains correspondence with her husband, a war veteran looking for employment, who has been gone for quite some time. She tells him about Bashu, and implores him to return home in time to help with the harvest. Bashu becomes Nais helper on the farm, and even accompanies her to the bazaar to sell her goods. Throughout the film, Bashu sees visions of his dead family members, which cause him to wander off. Ultimately, however, he and Nai are always reunited. ........

Source: Wikipedia