A Time for Drunken Horses

Found in: Iranian films

A Time for Drunken Horses is a 2000 Iranian (Kurdish/Persian) film directed by Bahman Ghobadi and produced in Iran. It was a co-winner of the ''Camera d'Oraward at the Cannes Film Festival in 2000 [*].

Plot

A Kurdish family is trying to survive after the death of its parents. Ayoub, the eldest boy in the family, becomes the head of the household and must do whatever work available to survive. Madi'', Ayoub's handicapped brother, is in need of a medical operation. Ayoub goes to great lengths to collect money for the operation by smuggling truck tires with a group of Kurdish villagers near the Iran-Iraq border. Ayoub ultimately falls short of his intended goal and his uncle decides to marry off his sister in return for the groom's family financing Madi's operation on the Iranian side of the border. When they arrive the mother of the groom refuses to accepts Madi and agrees to give Ayoub and his uncle a mule as compensation. The smugglers use mules to carry goods and fed them liquor to make them survive the harsh mountain winter. Near the border, Iranian soldiers seize the villagers'(and Ayoub's) merchandise.