1980s: Where is the Friend’s House?

Screening + Discussion
Our pick for the 1980s

For our stop in 1980s film history, we screened Where Is the Friend’s House? (1987), directed by Abbas Kiarostami. The film follows a young boy trying to return a classmate’s notebook so he won’t be punished at school. What begins as a simple task turns into a long walk through villages, rules, and adult indifference.

After the film, we talked about:

• The simplicity of the premise and why it’s so effective

• Childhood responsibility versus adult authority

• Rules, obedience, and when kindness matters more

• How repetition and routine shape the film’s rhythm

• The landscape as both obstacle and guide

• Doors as symbols of access, refusal, and uncertainty

• Why the film resists clear emotional payoff

• The difference between moral clarity and moral effort

• How small gestures carry real weight