The Last Days of Winter

“I’m not afraid of death, I’m afraid of life”, hushes a child in an Iranian youth detention centre to director Mehrdad Oskouei, known for his amazing ability to build a trusting bond with the young detainees. Without being intrusive, the camera follows the boys’ lives closely, bringing out details in a tender manner.

There are seven boys, each having drifted in crime and drugs as underaged children. Their life stories are both similar and different – each one a drug addict, some from a young age, inherited through blood. They play rough and fight easily. But they are close to tears when a memory of the mother, who has abandoned them, arises.

According to the boys, there are three things they have in common – loneliness, longing to be with their families and the constant belief that “only God can help us”. And hardly anyone believes they will be able to quit drugs after getting out of the centre.

A trip to the Caspian Sea during the New Year’s festivities is the culmination of the film. The nature is wintery, and while the boys get acquainted with this wonderful element, their joyous games reveal the fact that they are still only children – despite their harrowing fate.

Elizabeth Marschan