The film consists of a series of interviews with little boys (and, occasionally, their parents) about the Iranian school system and its methods of assigning homework. Beleaguered by their workload, the boys complain about the insensitivity and rigidity of adults, and of parents who will not or cannot help them because of illiteracy and poverty. Though the boys' woe is palpable and rending, the film closes with a moment of soaring grace: a boy reciting a poem he loves from memory. "Masterpiece. As simple and charming as most of Homework is, it winds up telling us a great deal about Iran in the '90s" (Jonathan Rosenbaum); "Homework does not follow the rules. One learns the rules but reaches a moment when one has to throw them away and approach the whole concept of filmmaking with one's heart and feelings" (Kiarostami).
| Directed by | Abbas Kiarostami |
| Written by | Abbas Kiarostami |