The Iranian celebration of Nowruz starts at the precise moment that winter ends and spring begins. In 2025, the festivities will commence on March 20 at 5:01 a.m. Eastern time. Unlike most American holidays, Now Ruz lasts longer than one day. The celebration stretches for 13 days and is full of rituals, festivities, and symbolism. If you’re a film lover the movie The White Balloon will give you an idea of the happenings. (The film is available to stream on the Criterion Channel and they have a 7 day free trial.)
The White Balloon
The White Balloon is about a little girl who wants to buy a goldfish but keeps losing her money. It was written by Abbas Kiarostami, one of a generation of filmmakers in the Iranian New Wave. This movement started in the late 1960s and often focused on political and philosophical issues. Kiarostami’s catalog includes documentary-style narrative films about children, stories that take place in rural villages, and conversations that unfold inside cars, using stationary mounted cameras.
It’s worth delving into the history and workings of Iran’s award-winning film industry since we have so little insight into the country at the human level. Click here to learn more about The White Balloon and its universal appeal.
Now Ruz
The annual Now Ruz celebration remains the most popular holiday in Iran. It has been observed for more than 2,000 years, originating in the ancient Persia of the Zoroastrians. It’s popularly believed to have originated with the legendary Shah Jamshid who wanted to celebrate the brilliant spring sun and to commemorate justice, order, and humanitarianism.
Long ago it was a Now Ruz custom for villagers to select an upstanding and handsome young man to parade through the streets of the village on a decorated horse or camel. The young man, called Haji Firuz, was followed by a procession of villagers singing and playing tambourines and drums. Wherever he stopped, shopkeepers or residents presented him and his followers with food and gifts. Over the years, he became more flamboyant and more comical, appearing as a minstrel in blackface, wandering the streets and alleys of cities and towns to entertain with music, songs, poems, skits, and stories. His entourage was dressed in all red costumes and felt hats. Watch the video below for a brief history.
During the first half of the twentieth century, Haji’s golden age, men formed groups similar to the Mummers’ Clubs of Philadelphia and the Mardi Gras Clubs of New Orleans. Each group selected its own Haji Firuz who then set out to roam from neighborhood to neighborhood. As he meandered through the streets, he and his followers performed a variety of comic routines, recited beloved poems, sang popular folk songs, and told stories. Haji’s favorite song declared:
Wind and rain have gone
Lord Now Ruz has come
Friends, convey this message:
the New Year has come again.
This spring be your good luck,
The tulip fields be your joy.
Along the way, audiences showered him with coins and invited him into their gardens to entertain families and guests. After his performance, they might serve a meal and show him their haft seen table.
The haft seen table is the pride of the Now Ruz celebration, the place where families gather to await the exact moment of spring, like waiting for the ball to drop in New York’s Times Square on New Year’s Eve. Since haft is the Persian word for seven and seen is the word for the letter “s”, the table’s centerpiece includes seven symbolic items, each beginning with “s.”
Taken together, the group of seven represents the joy that every family hopes will continue to come their way during the New Year. Traditionally the items are: Sekeh (coin); Samanu (a sweet wheat pudding); Sabsi (sprouting grasslike shoots of vegetables or herbs like the kitty greens we buy at the Farmers’ Market); Sanbol (the hyacinth flower); Seer (garlic); Senjed (a tiny dried fruit from an Asian deciduous tree); and Sekeh (vinegar). If any of these items are unavailable, there are substitutes — Sib (apple) and Sumagh (sumac). Over the years, middle and upper-class families have added other things, including boiled eggs, sweets, candles, a mirror, and a bowl of goldfish. And while not traditional, some religious families, concerned with the secular character of the holiday, now make the Koran the focal point of their table so that just before and after the moment of the equinox the male head of household can recite its verses.
A particularly popular Now Ruz event occurs on Chaharshanbeh Souri, the last Wednesday of the dying year. On this evening, heaps of brush are set on fire and old and young leap over the flames. All the while, they chant a verse asking the fire to replace all that is old with brightness and liveliness. This activity is not as frivolous as it sounds, for it hints at a Manichean world of opposites — good and evil, light and darkness, the quick and the dead.
In this season too, the souls of the dead return to their earthly homes to visit prosperity and happiness upon living inhabitants. In honor of their return, family members visit close friends and relatives, respecting the significance of social bonds and the need to put aside petty frictions.
The Now Ruz holiday comes to an end on Sizdeh Bedar, the thirteenth day of the New Year. Because the number thirteen is unlucky, everybody heads outside to avoid bad fortune. Parks, forests, and country roads are thronged with families picnicking, strolling, and hiking. It’s a day for renewing ties with nature and mankind, for basking in the happiness of the New Year celebration, and for tossing out the sabzi that graced the haft seen table.
Watch Iranian Films to Celebrate Now Ruz
Several sites have compiled lists of Iranian films in honor of the Now Ruz holiday. Check out the eleven movies listed on Sundance and the thirty films listed on IMDB.
Two recent films are worth a look:
The Seed of the Sacred Fig – This controversial film was shot entirely in secret. An award-winning thriller, it centers on a family thrust into the public eye when one of the family, Iman, is appointed as an investigating judge in Tehran. (available to rent on Amazon Prime and Apple TV)
Hit the Road (available to rent on Amazon Prime and Apple TV) – This award-winning “road trip” film follows a family of four as they head to the Turkish border so that the oldest son can leave Iran. Over the course of the trip, they bond over memories of the past, grapple with fears of an unknown future, and fuss over their sick dog.
A Film From 1977
The Report – Kiarastomi’s last film before the Revolution is rarely seen and I haven’t been able to find a trailer. (The link is to a clip.) The film is about the life of a tax collector who is accused of taking bribes and also has to deal with other problems at home, including the suicide attempt of his wife. (available on the Criterion Channel and as of this posting for free on YouTube)
I hope you have fun watching. Your thoughts are welcome. Just enter them in the Comments!
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Featured Photo by Leila Pejman; Haft Seen Table #2 by Mahtab; Chaharshanbeh Souri by Blondinrikard Fröberg (all from Flickr)
