Late Iranian director Bahram Beyzai’s revered classic “Bashu: The Little Stranger” (1985) is soon to be re-released in North American cinemas by indie distributor Film Movement in the U.S. and Montreal-based Ritual in Canada.
Widely considered among the greatest Iranian movies ever made, “Bashu” takes place during the Iran–Iraq war of the 1980s. The moving drama revolves on a young boy, the film’s titular character, who escapes the bombing of his southern Iranian village in which his family is killed. He travels north where a mother of two, whose husband is away, takes Bashu in, defying suspicions of the surrounding villagers.
“Bashu: The Little Stranger” was recently restored in 4K from the original 35mm negatives. Film Movement and Ritual have now acquired rights to this print, which is being sold globally by France’s MK2 Films. The new “Bashu” print received the award for best restored film at the 2025 Venice Film Festival, where it launched in the Venice Classics section.