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Journey + A Wedding Suit + Introduction (12A*)

Masterpieces of the Iranian New Wave

,Cinema 1
A wall and a boy in the mirror

Loneliness and orphanhood, yet yearning for care and connection, lie at the heart of these two powerful films from Bahram Beyzaie and Abbas Kiarostami. 

In Journey, two teenagers from the shantytowns of southern Tehran travel to the newly built suburbs, searching for the parents of one of the boys. The journey itself transcends the boy’s personal aims. Journey masterfully weaves in a reflection on the history of cinema through allusions and visual citations. 

A Wedding Suit also presents a disillusionment with the world, through the eyes of young boys. The suit becomes a lens that shows the the loneliness and anxieties of youth, in a society indifferent to them, where their sexual, vocational, and social aspirations are stifled. 

Two restored classics by Kanoon (the Iranian centre specialising in producing films for and about children) offer lessons in cinematic modernity from two leading figures of the Iranian New Wave, Bahram Beyzaie and Abbas Kiarostami. 

Tagged with: Cinema Masterpieces of the Iranian New Wave 2026

Introduced by season curator Ehsan Khoshbakht. 

In Persian with English subtitles.

The Programme

Journey (Safar) 

A 12-year-old orphan with a habit of seeking out his potential parents takes his friend along on a journey through the wastelands on the outskirts of Tehran. 

1972 Iran dir Bahram Beyzaie, 35 mins, in Persian with English subtitles 

A Wedding Suit (Lebasi Bara-ye Arousi) 

Set in a three-story arcade in downtown Tehran, this suspenseful, almost Hitchcockian mid-length film follows a tailor’s assistant who secretly lends a friend a suit made for the son of an affluent family, only to find himself unable to retrieve it as the deadline for the customer’s collection approaches. 

1976 Iran dir Abbas Kiarostami, 60 mins, in Persian with English subtitles 

Explore the season

Cinema 1

Location
Barbican Cinema 1 is located within the main Barbican building on Level -2. Head to Level G and walk towards the Lakeside Terrace where you’ll find stairs and lifts to take you down to the venue floor.   

Address
Barbican Centre
Silk Street, London
EC2Y 8DS

Public transport
The Barbican is widely accessible by bus, tube, train and by foot or bicycle. Plan your journey and find more route information in ‘Your Visit’ or book your car parking space in advance.