The first of Kiarostami’s films made for, rather than about, children was an experiment in combining live action and animation, done in collaboration with animator Nafiseh Riahi.
As two schoolboys watch animated views of animals’ actions—kangaroos jumping, fish swimming, etc.—one boy (played by Riahi’s son Kamal) says, “I can, too,” and imitates the actions.
The music is sprightly, the mood fun. The second boy is Kiarostami’s son Ahmad.
This is a film about a little boy that can imitate the behaviour of different animals. By this kind of childish act he compares himself with animals.
In the end he finds out that the real difference between human being and other living creatures is the ability to think...
Music ... Nasser Cheshmazar Cinematography ... Mostafa Hajji Film Editing ... Abbas Kiarostami Sound ... Herayr Atashkar, Mohammad Haghighi
Animation Department Cinematographer ... Mohammad Feyjani Animators ... Nafiseh Riahi, Farzaneh Taghavi
Read about this film
Title: So I Can | Man ham Mitounam (1975)
Directed by: Abbas Kiarostami
Date of birth: 22 June 1940, Tehran, Iran
Date of death: 4 July 2016, Paris, France
Writing credits:
Abbas Kiarostami
Music by: Nasser Cheshmazar
Country: Iran
Language: Farsi
Color: Color
Runtime: 4 min.