Baduk (Persian) is a 1992 Iranian Film directed by Majid Majidi. The film deals with child slavery. The Persian term “Baduk” refers to people often children hired against their will, who carry smuggled merchandise from the border on foot. In the film powerful drama portraying the hardship and strength of spirit of the children.

In Baluchestan, there are people who walk a long distance every day under such scorching heat just to arrive the border, where they can get some goods, and then they return. Those people are called Baduk.

Jafar and his sister Jamal are Heydar’s young children. Heydar is killed in a well cave-in. Jafar and Jamal have been forced to abandon the village and then they are kidnapped by a dealer, named Sattar. Sttar sells Jafar to a smuggler, named Abdollah, and takes Jamal with himself to Pakistan. Jamal is dressed in fancy silks, destinated to be the playmate of a Saudi Prince. Jafar and some other children work for Abdollah and they import illegal merchandise from Pakistan and Iran for him. By getting familiar with a young boy from Pakistan, Jafar finds some traces of her sister there. Thereby, he decides to rescue her with the help of Noredin. Jafar sets off with his new friend Noredin on a quest to free Jamal and their adventure builds towards a gripping climax that won’t be forgotten. The movie ends with a doomed act of bravery on the Jafar.

The film was shot in Sistan and Baluchestan, an arid province in southeast Iran. Baduk premiered in January 1992 and was shown that February at the Tehran Fajr Film Festival. It was screened at the Director’s Fortnight at Cannes in 1992, where it was considered a bold film from the Islamic Republic of Iran. Director Majid Majidi ran into censorship problems after making this film.

Film won Best New Film and Best Screenplay, 10th Annual Fajr Film Festival. Film won The Golden Horse for the Best Picture, Taiwan Internationals Film Festival and The Golden Camera for the Best Picture, The Golden Phonix for Best Film Poster, the 12th Fajr International Film Festival.

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