The Cyclist
Filmfest 2006

THE CYCLIST of the title is Nassim, an Afghan refugee in need of money to pay his wife‘s medical expenses. With work difficult to come by, a sleazy promoter suggests he undertake a bicycle marathon. Touting him as the Afghani superman, the huckster wagers that Nassim will circle a small area on the outskirts of town, day and night, for a week. While he rides, a carnival of society‘s dispossessed grows alongside the desperate cyclist. Gamblers, bookies, buskers, food vendors, and leprous gawkers watch from the sidelines, cynically using Nassim‘s suffering for their own purposes. Alissa Simon, The Film Center, Chicago A rivetting follow-up to THE PEDDLER, his breakthrough work, and continuing in the same vein of existential allegory mixed with social critique, THE CYCLIST confirmed Makhmalbaf‘s unique ability to turn a grotesque subject into a rich and fertile film which teases the brain while pulling on the heartstrings. Deborah Young, International Film Guide