Discoveries from Iran World Cinema

Shakib is a homeless day laborer who never got over the loss of his wife and son in an earthquake years ago. Over the last couple of years, he has developed a relationship with a deaf and mute woman, Ladan. The construction site on which he works today turns out to be the set of a film about the atrocities committed by Hitler during WWII. Against all odds, he is given a movie role, a house and a chance at being somebody. When Ladan learns about this, she comes to his workplace begging for help. Shakib’s scheme to hide her goes tragically wrong and threatens to ruin his newfound status and what seemed to be the opportunity of a lifetime.

A young woman travels to Tehran under the pretext of taking a language test, racing against time to make a life-altering decision.

Akbar, 18, has been held in a rehabilitation centre for committing murder at the age of sixteen. Now, Akbar is transferred to prison to await the day of his execution. A’la, a friend of Akbar, tries desperately to gain the consent of Akbar’s plaintiff so as to stop the execution.

In this farcical comedy, the scheming Behrouz hatches a plan to marry the wealthy Sima in order to become rich. Little does he know, however, that Sima's father has gotten wind of his dastardly motives, and enlists the help of a friend. A lesson in morality, this well-shot film combines the hilarious with bittersweet drama.

A satirical take on the mundane absurdities of life in modern-day Iran, these nine vignettes illuminate the lighter side of enduring under authoritarian rule. Whether choosing a name for a newborn, graduating from grade school, getting a driver’s license, applying for a job, or seeking approval for a film script, if you live in Iran, you best come fluent in Orwellian discourse.

Hassan Karkhaneh, a veteran detective on the verge of promotion, is faced with the case of a woman who vanished following a suspicious accident. Despite psychological pressure and systemic opposition, he grows suspicious of the mysterious Maahak and launches a private investigation. Caught between the law, his conscience, and a mental breakdown, Hassan must decide how far he is willing to go to save Leila.

A quintet of international lesbian short films, the latest in its popular Upon Her Lips collection. These films aim to tempt you with secret desires in the brightest of days or the darkest of nights. Two schoolgirls in Iran try covering up a misdemeanour whilst a Spanish couple’s weekend retreat means navigating family dynamics. In 19th century Germany, a peasant clairvoyant has the villagers gossiping whilst in present-day New Zealand, a woman uses laughter to let go. For these emboldened women, sexuality becomes the least of their worries

After an Afghanistan-born woman who lives in Canada receives a letter from her suicidal sister, she takes a perilous journey through Afghanistan to try to find her.

While making a film about the Israeli-Palestinian war, an Iranian filmmaker is thrust into it himself. He is forced to flee Tehran with his family, and his political essay transforms into a twelve‑day diary of survival, exile and identity.

Solomon, Prophet and the King, has asked God to give him an ideal kingdom which has never been given to anybody before. He is told to prepare himself and his subjects with evil and unearthly creatures that haunt the men.

A school teacher from Tehran is preparing to attend a wedding in northern Iran. When her husband suddenly forbids her to go, she makes a choice that will place her on a painful path to atonement.

A man who is a news reporter is going to Germany from America to meet his son who is living there. There he tells his son that he is divorced now. The father is pick pocket by two guys.

Two days in the life of Mostafa Chamran, Iran's first post-revolutionary defense minister, as he attempts to prevent the city of Paveh from falling to Kurdish separatists in 1979.

Three attempts at reconnecting with often traumatic pasts, all leading to flights from home and the need for personal reinvention. A documentary triptych of many layers and emotions, whose parts connect with each other in unexpected ways.

The satirical commentary on clergymen in post-revolutionary Iran. While in prison, petty criminal Reza (Parviz Parastui) comes across a clergyman, sparking a plan for escape. Reza dons his new acquaintance's clerical robes and makes a bid for freedom. He soon learns that being a clergyman brings little respect from the public. Reza travels to the outlying villages, from where he plots to escape the country. However, his plans must be put on hold when the villagers accept him into their community and expect him to perform religious duties. Will Reza's prison break transform him into an unlikely pillar of the community?

Pizza man Hussein is a daily witnesses to the unjust distribution of wealth in his native Iran. One day, he finds a purse filled with shockingly expensive receipts from an upscale jewelry store. He attempts to bring the purse back to the store, but because of his working-class attire, he's not allowed inside. Then, during a delivery, a rich man invites Hussein into his extravagant mansion – an event that spurs Hussein to make a desperate bid for wealth.

During a late-night mugging, Mahtab, 35, finds herself face-to-face with her former college classmate, Shahriar, the thief.

A snake catcher working for the Iranian antivenom department dies on the job. Once he miraculously returns to the living, the resurrected man refuses to go back to his old life.

One night, three bored young men in a car decide to pay a visit to an older man they only know vaguely. At first he’s glad to see them but soon afterwards thinks they’ve come to burgle him and turns a gun on them. When the police turns up, they’re all taken into custody.

In order to prepare her best and brightest for the upcoming chemistry Olympiad, strict, conservative headmistress Ms. Darabi is forced to break her lifelong rule of not allowing male teachers in the school and reluctantly hires the bumbling Mr. Jebeli. Little does she know though that several of her students, led by the self-assured Paria, have a plan to get her to fall in love with him. 'No Men Allowed' is a hilarious, rollicking romcom, chock-full of witty dialogue and zany antics that will have you coming back time and time again!

A young orphan named Amiro lives alone in an abandoned tanker in the Iranian port city of Abadan. He survives by shining shoes, selling water, and collecting deposit bottles. Although he sometimes finds himself at odds with both adults and competing older kids, he finds solace in dreams about departing cargo ships and airplanes—and by running.

A film about what totalitarians want from election, is second film from Kaleme which released before 10th parliament election of Iran

On a winter night, in the northernmost reaches of the world, Ali, an Iranian writer living in exile, retreats with his former lover, Nazanin, to a glass cabin beneath the northern lights. There, in the silence of the polar night, he intends to say goodbye. Despite facing a long prison sentence, Ali has decided to return to Iran — to continue the struggle he once left behind.

A young woman camps alone on a quiet island. After limited yet intriguing interactions with others and a time where dreams and reality blur, she returns to Tehran. The coastal landscape reflects the woman's inner journey.

The story of a blind dervish named Bab'Aziz and his spirited granddaughter, Ishtar. Together they wander the desert in search of a great reunion of dervishes that takes place just once every thirty years. With faith as their only guide, the two journey for days through the expansive, barren landscape.

Bahram Beyzai's poetic imagining of the circumstances that led to the death of Yazdgerd III, the last of the Sassanid kings of Iran. His death in 651, during the Arab invasions that brought Islam to this Zoroastrian realm, was mysterious: his corpse was discovered in a mill, but the cause of his death—and the whereabouts of his remains—are unknown.

According to the true story of Abdolrasoul Zarrin, he was the Iranian sniper of the Iran-Iraq war, who is known as the best sniper in the contemporary world wars with a record of 3,000 successful shootings with Dragunov weapons.

Mohammad joyfully returns to his tiny village on summer vacation from the Institute for the Blind, unaware of his widowed father's intentions to disown him in order to win the hand—and dowry—of a local woman. With the wedding swiftly approaching, Mohammad's future hangs precariously in the balance as his father struggles against his destiny, unable to see the wonder of life and love that's so clear to his son.

It’s 1988 and, at the height of the Iran-Iraq War, Tehran is bombed relentlessly. The days that pass are full of foreboding, and yet, love, affection, hope and life itself manage to sweep away the fear of death from those surrounded by it. Love may often be difficult to comprehend, but death is a horrible certitude. ‘Bomb, A Love Story’ shows how, even when faced with the darkness of death, love and hope will find a way.

Qader, a bricklayer from Sardasht in Kurdistan Iran whose wife is pregnant with her 4th child, suddenly found himself amid a war crime perpetrated by the Saddam regime. On June 28th, 1987 Iraqi air fighters dropped mustard gas bombs on the city...

Tomorrow is Samira's wedding ceremony and Bahar and Parisa are shopping excitedly. But at night somebody calls and tells them that the bride is dead and the wedding has been called off. They are both shocked and they cannot believe what they have heard, so they go straight to their friend's fiancé, Mansoor, to find out about the cause of her suspicious death.

Winter is approaching in the remote Iranian Zagros Mountains, and 16-year-old Sogol lives a fragile life on the edge of childhood and adulthood. Her family's existence, rooted in nature and sustained by tradition, is shaped by patriarchal customs and the pressures of a changing world. Though she lacks a formal education, Sogol dreams of a different future for her younger family member Delaram, believing education can break the cycle of tradition and offer new possibilities. Sogol dares to imagine a future beyond the mountains for Delaram, but delicate dreams can be easily lost in the harsh wilderness.

Kaveh Nariman is a Doctor in the medical examiner's office. One day at his work he meets a corpse which is very familiar to him.

A police soldier is forced to become an escort for a female shooti to deliver the illegal cargo to its destination in order to obtain cancer medicine for his friend.

On a spring day, a young couple drifts apart and back together: Nima, lost in office routines and an evening celebration, and Tara, roaming markets in search of both a dress and a place to bury her secrets. Meanwhile, Aban, a young woman swept up in the tremors of first love, embarks on a journey of her own. Their paths, at once ordinary and fateful, begin to circle and echo one another in ways that move beyond the limits of time and space.

A hundred and fourteen famous Iranian theater and cinema actresses and a French star: mute spectators at a theatrical representation of Khosrow and Shirin, a Persian poem from the twelfth century, put on stage by Kiarostami. The development of the text -- long a favorite in Persia and the Middle East -- remains invisible to the viewer of the film, the whole story is told by the faces of the women watching the show.

A look at the formation of the career of Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami.

A young man's drive to avenge for his sister and brother.

An Iranian couple living in the US become trapped inside a hotel when insidious events force them to face the secrets that have come between them, in a night that never ends.

An elderly couple go about their routine of cleaning their gabbeh, while bickering gently with each other. Magically, a young woman appears, helping the two clean the rug. This young woman belongs to the clan whose history is depicted in the design of the gabbeh, and the rug recounts the story of the courtship of the young woman by a stranger from the clan.

Convicted of murdering her husband, a woman who served her sentence and now faces a ticking clock to negotiate with her in-laws who, under Sharia law, have the legal right to either execute her or forgive her- for a price.

A court drama about Morteza Zand who is a representing prosecutor who has come to another city to execute five murder suspects who are sentenced to death for the murder.

A 15-year-old girl, struggling under societal and familial pressures, takes a stand to reclaim her identity and voice.

Maryam (Negar Javaherian) and Reza (Shahab Hosseini) are different from other people, it's not just a simple difference, but a very big difference. They must try to prove to others they have solved the big difference with the miracle of love ...

Desiderium lyrically charts the hapless loves of a three brother: Majid, they young handicapped brother with a deformed head falls in love with Aghdas, a prostitute hired by his eldest brother Habib to entertain him, not knowing the truth about her profession. Karim, the middle brother is so infatuated with a quail that he almost completely ignores his wife and her emotions. Habib himself is in love with Foroogh, a tailor lady who lives with them, while his sense of responsibility about Majid keeps him from requiting her affections.

A boy breaks a window at his school and sets out to fix it on his own during a storm.

In a village where nobody has died for 45 years and only the aged remain, 100-year-old Aslan and his friends begin to think suicide is the solution.

Ali gets a job and, by dint of dedication and patience, achieves a significant promotion and ends up becoming the manager of the company, as well as winning Meltem's love. However, this is not to the liking of his cousin Cihangir and his father, who instead are totally broke and want to get their revenge on Ali.

Rana has chosen a path in order to support her family, while Adineh (Eddie) has fled his home and city to escape his complicated situation as a transsexual man prevented from living as his true self by his family. They find themselves on the same journey and caused to know each other in a better way.

On his way to Tehran, Ali stops by the village where his childhood caregiver, Hasan, lives. He wants to take Hasan to Tehran for treatment, as he is ill and suffers from dementia. Hassan has conditions for coming to Tehran, and he won’t go with Ali until he completes his pending tasks in Naein. As Ali helps Hassan with these overdue matters, he learns new things about Hassan and gains insight into his fictional world.

Arjang, A 50-year old man, has loved Roya from his childhood years but he has failed to marry her due to some reasons. Roya migrates to the united states with her family due to some social restrictions of 1980s. Arjang who has never forgotten Roya, meets her different times later but each time he fails to marry her again. He has 50 now and is a wealthy man, so he insists Roya to stay in Iran and marry him.

Short ethnographic documentray about Arba'een, a Shia Muslim religious observance

Hours before her scheduled marriage, young bride-to-be Shirin murders a man. The crime is completely unexpected and goes against everything we know of her. We learn that Shirin has had two unsuccessful marriage attempts, and is deeply psychologically troubled. But as the dark secrets in her past are slowly revealed, exposing a childhood of neglect, abuse, and the tragic history of two previous failed marriages, the characters must face their own battles with justice, retribution, and morality.

A serial killer is going around killing Iran's most beloved filmmakers. Hasan, a blacklisted filmmaker himself, is depressed and wonders: why isn't he being targeted?

The Tangfani Pump House (Tangfani Oil Transfer Center), which was bombed several times during the Iran-Iraq War and then rebuilt, was once again targeted by Iraqi aircraft when it was opened and severely damaged. The National Oil Company officials believe that the only way to restart this important pump house, which is responsible for delivering crude oil to the country's three major refineries, is to move it underground. Specialists and workers, dressed as nomads, begin working underground, and Engineer Yeganeh is called to the area to direct the operation. In the meantime, several Iraqi regime spies, seeing the apparent halt in the reconstruction of the previous pump house, become suspicious of the movements and send one of their men to obtain information from Engineer Yeganeh through threats...

Mina's life is turned upside down when she learns that her husband was innocent of the crime for which he was executed, so she starts a silent battle against a cynical system for her own and her daughter's sake.

When a young girl's mother doesn't meet her after school, she tries to navigate the streets of Tehran by herself.

A collection of 24 short four-and-a-half minutes films inspired by still images, including paintings and photographs. An experimental project made by filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami in the last three years of his life.

In Iran, the retired dance teacher Tarlan witnesses her friend Rana's murder by her husband, who is an important government figure. When the police refuse to investigate, Tarlan must decide whether to bow to political pressure or risk her reputation and livelihood in pursuit of justice.