13 / Sizdah

It’s the middle of the night and Bemani is beating his drums – one of the few vents for this 13-year-old boy of few words who is bullied at school and left alone by his parents. When one day he meets the tough punk Sami in front of his Tehran apartment block, a new door opens in his life. Bemani is impressed by the hard-boiled young woman and begins hanging out with her and her homeless friends. However, Sami’s past has left her with a few unpaid debts, and Bemani soon finds himself in a situation he can no longer escape from. Hooman Seyedi’s multi award-winning debut is a coming-of-age drama/gangster thriller hybrid that impresses with its modern and uncompromising visual language.