Synopsis

A true-to-life tale of struggle and survival, Bahman Ghobadi’s directorial debut starkly captures the plight of a Kurdish family of five, led by 12-year-old Ayoub, who’s promoted to head of the household after his parents’ death. Ayoub turns to desperate means to earn money for his handicapped brother’s operation, and eventually throws in with a group of smugglers crossing the mountains into Iraq, where the mules are fed whiskey (hence the film’s title) to enable them to trudge just a few more steps in the harsh winter conditions. This startling portrait of unseen and frequently disregarded lives won the Camera d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival.