Iran

  • Bahman Ghobadi – Zamani barayé masti asbha AKA A Time for Drunken Horses (2000)

    1991-2000Bahman GhobadiDramaIran

    Young Iranian Kurds (brothers and sisters) try to save the youngest of them, who is seriously ill.Read More »

  • Majid Majidi – Baran (2001)

    2001-2010ArthouseDramaIranMajid Majidi

    Young Lateef works on a construction site in Tehran with some Turks and a few illegal Afghan workers. When Lateef is given heavier tasks to compensate for new Afghan worker Rahmat, he resents his displacement and treats Rahmat cruelly. After one of his pranks, however, Lateef discovers Rahmat’s secret–he is a girl named Baran. Latif’s heart softens towards Baran and he shows his new affection for her by doing what he can to ease the hardships she suffers at work. When government inspectors force all Afghans to be fired from the site, Lateef discovers he cannot bear to be without her. Jeopardizing social standing and endangering his own well being, Lateef stops at nothing to save his love.Read More »

  • Majid Majidi – Pedar AKA The Father (1996)

    1991-2000ArthouseDramaIranMajid Majidi

    Mehrollah is a 14-year-old boy who is forced to find a job to support his family after his father dies. He travels to the southern parts of Iran, looking for work. Upon his return to his hometown, he notices certain changes in his family.Read More »

  • Saeed Roustayi – Baradaran-e Leila AKA Leila’s Brothers (2022)

    Drama2021-2030IranSaeed Roustayi

    Quote:
    At the age of 40, Leila has spent her entire life caring for her parents and four brothers. A family that is constantly arguing and under pressure from various debts in the face of sanctions against Iran. While her brothers are struggling to make ends meet, Leila makes a plan.Read More »

  • Rakhshan Banietemad – Zir-e poost-e shahr AKA Under the Skin of the City (2001)

    2001-2010ArthouseDramaIranRakhshan Banietemad

    Tuba works daily at a grueling textile factory in Iran, returning home every night to deal with the rest of her problematic family, which includes: a pregnant daughter whose husband beats her regularly; a teenage son, who’s been getting into trouble due to his burgeoning career in radical politics; and an older son who goes to great lengths–such as attempting to sell the family’s meager house–in order to get an engineering job in Japan as a means of getting out of Iran. Unfortunately the ‘friend’ to whom he gave his money as an advance for his trip took off with the money, and the son finds himself without money, without a career, and with a debt towards a lot of people. To solve his problems he wants to deliver a package of heroin, but loses it, and has to flee. The film ends dramatically with a direct call from the mother to the camera crew asking what life has given them after all the sacrifices they have done, mirroring the opening scene.Read More »

  • Amirhossein Ashrafi & Mohammad Kart & Arastoosohrabinya – Shena-ye Parvaneh AKA Butterfly Stroke (2020)

    Drama2011-2020Amirhossein AshrafiArastoosohrabinyaCrimeIranMohammad Kart

    Quote:
    A film of a woman swimming in a pool is distributed through the internet. Now her husband and her brother are after finding the one who is responsible for that and taking revenge on him.Read More »

  • Ebrahim Golestan – Yek atash AKA A Fire (1961)

    1961-1970ArthouseEbrahim GolestanIranShort Film

    “In the spring of 1958, in the region of Khuzestan, at the heart of the Iranian oil industry and of Persian civilization, an oil well explodes during a drilling. The eruption is endless; the fire is powerful, indestructible, and gigantic. It is a dragon. In any case, that is how it is presented in A Fire.” (Stéfani de Loppinot, Cinéma 07)Read More »

  • Jafar Panahi – Ayneh AKA The Mirror (1997)

    1991-2000ArthouseDramaIranJafar Panahi

    A girl in traditional female clothing, and her arm in plaster, comes out of school one day and doesn’t find her mother meeting her. She decides to travel home her self though she doesn’t know her address and remembers the road only visuallyRead More »

  • Mani Haghighi – Khook AKA Pig (2018)

    2011-2020ComedyCrimeIranMani Haghighi

    Hasan is seething with rage. A blacklisted director, it’s been years since he was allowed to shoot a film. The actress he has made a star and with whom he is in love now wants to make a film with another director. He and his wife have drifted apart and his daughter is also about to cut the cord. Moreover, his old mother who lives with them appears to be losing her mind. Worst of all, however, is that in Tehran and its environs, filmmakers are being murdered. But why is the serial killer ignoring him of all people? Hasan is crushed: isn’t he the best filmmaker in town? Why isn’t he being beheaded? His frustration is exacerbated when, as a result of a series of bizarre misunderstandings, he becomes the prime suspect. There’s a frenzy of running commentaries on social media and his popularity is plummeting by the minute. Hasan needs a diabolical plan to restore his reputation.Read More »

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