Hours before the Iranian New Year, a seven-year-old girl begs her mother for money to buy a goldfish. The mother grudgingly relents, but, on the way to the store, the girl accidentally drops her 500-toman bill into an open sewer grate. In a relentless attempt to retrieve her money in time to purchase the much-coveted goldfish, she enlists the help of her enterprising brother and a varied cross-section of Teheran's marginalized citizens. A quiet, unpretentious gem about the beauty in everyday life.

I remember watching a few Iranian movies a decade ago on Star Movies, part of their children’s week celebration. I forgot the names of the movies and their directors over the years and all I could remember were the characters and the amazing storyline.

The brilliance of The White Balloon is in its simplicity which led it to win the Prix de la Camera d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival.

I finally managed to catch the movie on UTV World Movies and boy was I excited!