Discoveries from Iran World Cinema

A documentary about people who make their living by writing letters for illiterate people

Mossadegh, Another Viewpoint brings together nearly a dozen interviews, personally conducted by Saber in 2009-2010. Most of the interviewees were closely associated with Mossadegh during the last decade of his life, while he was living under house arrest in his ancestral village of Ahmadabad.

Haaj Ebraam is a tailor who spends his days in his ancestral tailor's shop to earn the money for his daughter's wedding. One day, he gets a special delivery. In a letter, his father wrote to him that he has left him with magic buttons, their family heirloom. The buttons in the two jars bring good and bad fortune to the customers, but Ebraam shall not be entitled to intervene with the justice of the world, and he should not choose buttons for people's clothes based on his own judgment. Ebraam, however, soon gives up trying to carry out his father's order and takes over the distribution of the world's fortunes.

Siamak who is a minibus driver decides that he wants to die and chose his birth day to do so. Before that he wants to do all the things which he was wishing to do in his life. But one day he meets a girl which change his life.

An encounter between a young musician and a mysterious young woman who “works” as a scarecrow to “silence the birds,” and likes to spend time at the Armenian cemetery to talk with the dead.

A father who reports 90 minutes of live soccer for his son until...

It is late at night and a motor courier, tired of work, wants to deliver pizza to the last customer, who is in his painting studio...

Javad, whose father is in prison, buys a goldfish for the Persian New Year but his mother orders him to release the fish. Javad doesn't want to lose his fish but finally agrees to do so. His father returns back home...

A doctor graples with family difficulties while trying to find a cure for cancer.

Faraz, a wealthy man has lost his wife . He is very careful about his five children and assigns a nurse to take care of them. Gogo, a nurse from southern suburbs needs a job and tries to convince Faraz that she is the best choice.

With his fiancé star, Aubak is seeking a license to release his cassette, but he does not succeed. Meanwhile, she is introduced to a girl named Yasman through her fiance whose father is the owner of Caste and Sidi. Jasmine loves Babak and tries to take her to Los Angeles to follow her musical activity. The star, along with her father, is trying to save her relationship with her fiancé, succeeds in obtaining permission to release Babak's album, thus preventing her from going to the United States.

Three men will face strange events after release from jail.

Young man Farid relies heavily on his luck, working in a casino in Beirut, and when he meets the artist Jihan and falls in love with her, his life changes forever.

The movie "Unfinished Lights" is about a writer who adheres to a belief that seeks a theme related to his beliefs.

Reza is content with his life—on the condition that his mother doesn’t keep pressuring him to get married! He is kind-hearted and a bit comical. In stark contrast stands another young man who looks just like him but is serious and deeply interested in women. By chance, the two accidentally switch places...

Due to the closure of the factory and following his ambitions, a young man falls into the trap of cooperating with a criminal group and confronts his wife during a bank robbery. His young wife recognizes him and at the same time as the members of the criminal group become suspicious of their behavior, incidents occur

The film tells the friendship story of three young people named Ali, Tufan and Selim. Selim is a musician, Ali and Tufan are car mechanics. They live in the same house. Elif, who works as a manicurist, joins the group as Ali's girlfriend. Meanwhile, Tufan meets Mehtap, a rich woman. However, Mehtap's involvement in illegal activities causes trouble for Tufan. Learning about the situation, Elif, Ali and Selim decide to save Tufan from this environment.

The story of a young deer which when gets far from the home faces many different challenges and troubles.

Effat tells Mahmoud her life story in order to convince him not to divorce his wife.

Nowzar & Abdulhamid, two brothers from south of Iran confront against each other for the share of money which National Iranian Oil Company supposed to pay them as a compensation of seizing their house. Meanwhile, adventure of Nowzar’s affection to Asieh (a dumb saleswoman) makes the story more complicated. Winner of golden plate for best sound mixing, and winner of golden plate for best director.

Shahab who is about to get marry with his fiance is in desperate need for money. For bringing money he with the help of his friend participates in a bargain but loses all his money. Under all the pressures from his family and his fiance Shahab is force to go to the beyond.

The story of a young friends who met on the Internet and a fun way to bet on a complex and daunting fall. The path to a new understanding of life and society for Each of them.

The leader of a criminal gang, a fugitive thief for whom the police have issued a shoot-to-kill order, encounters a young man named "Abdol," who bears a striking resemblance to him. The gang leader devises a plan to involve Abdol in various incidents and thefts, hoping that he will get caught by the police and be killed, allowing the leader to continue his activities freely. However, Abdol successfully returns from all missions, and during this time, a connection develops between Abdol and Maryam, the gang leader's lover...

A documentary about the holy city of Mashhad, highlighting the contrasts of faith and modernity under Shah in the Iran’s early 1970’s. Narrated by late poet Ahmad Shamloo.

Reza and Nazi have liquidated their assets into dollars to begin a new life in Canada, leaving Iran behind. On their final night in Iran, they visit Reza's mother, Rana, who is married to Shahrokh, a compulsive gambler. Despite Shahrokh's destructive habit, Rana remains devoted to him, illustrating a form of Stockholm Syndrome. The evening takes a dramatic turn when Farhad, Shahrokh's friend, arrives with the police to arrest Rana over a bounced check issued to settle Shahrokh's poker debt to Farhad. Amidst the chaos, Reza intervenes, pleading with the police not to detain his mother, offering Farhad all the dollars they had saved for their new life. However, a shocking revelation unfolds later: Shahrokh and Farhad orchestrated the entire incident to manipulate Reza into giving them the money. This deceit challenges Reza's trust and exposes the complex dynamics within the family

Infidels (Koffar) is a film about the Godars—artist-Gypsies living in Northern Iran. The film recounts the four ways which the Godars make their living: dancing, acting, hunting and music, and showcases their dedication to preserve their art and age-old rituals. In this film the Godars sing songs, play music, and tell the ancient tales of their heritage which often deal with their problems with God.

As Israeli airstrikes hit Tehran and families begin to flee, Yazdan, a man in his mid-30s, chooses to stay behind with his grandmother, who lives with Alzheimer’s and has no awareness of the war unfolding around her. Though escape is still possible, moving her would cause more distress than remaining. Inside their apartment, he takes on the quiet responsibility of caring for someone who no longer recognizes him, while the world outside grows increasingly unstable. As her memory unravels, their shared reality begins to divide: for her, nothing has changed; for him, everything has. What emerges is not a story of conflict, but of perception — a life shaped by something the other cannot register.

The thief, who looks a lot like the bank manager, after a long time of tracking and planning a precise scheme, introduces himself as the manager and robs the bank's safe. But he fails to execute the plan and gets caught by the police.

Babak who is a doctor in Kashan works in his father's hospital. But when he meets Mahmoud who has cancer his life changes drastically.

Shooka, a spirited, hardworking girl from an Iranian mountain village is to be married in an arranged marriage. Shokrollah, her neighbor with Down syndrome, has been head over heels in love...

We pass each other by, with indifference.

The short film Kuche is the story of a group of documentary makers who go to Mrs. Afkham Shabestri's house to record her memories of her last meeting with her husband, but the film remains puzzled in her dream world to recover her forty-year longing.

A young engineer who is returned home from Europe becomes responsible of taking care of his father's company. But a villain friend of him manages to drag him to gambling and drugs making him to lose his money and his family. Years later the young engineer in an accident helps a rich man and due to that manages to marry his girl and gets back his life and his family once again.

It is the hearts that make real countries, not the borders drawn on the maps, the land of earthly love without a map, without a geographical border

A mini-bus is on a journey across the mountains to Kabul. Each person on the bus has a reason to take this journey. An old man is traveling to give a turkey to his grandchild, as his last wish before dying. However, the main road is blocked by insurgents. They decide to use an alternative road, which is not very secure, and there is still the possibility of getting caught by insurgents.

Four old friends gather on the night before one of them is about to leave for military service to bid him farewell. One of them documents the events of that night. Years later, he returns to his country and tries to reunite the group.

This film tells the story of a sound recorder who goes to a park to capture the sounds of nature, but unintentionally records a girl's voice, which leads to complications in his life.

Jalal is an old man who, in his youth, experienced amusing and funny incidents on his path to marriage. Every time he went to propose, something would happen that caused the marriage to fall through.

A theater directed by Nasir Malekijoo

The story of this film revolves around the empty lives of Instagram celebrities and tells the unspoken truths of the virtual world.

After spending all his money buying a piece of land that was already sold to someone else, Nasrallah Madadi finds himself in trouble. To solve his money problems, he then decides to be the offender of fraud rather than its victim. Getting himself involved with a pair of criminals, he begins a crooked business selling a same yellow taxi to different buyers, only to steal it back from them and sell it again. In a fascinating portrayal of human nature, Canary Yellow follows Nasrallah through the ups and downs of his double-sided experience of crime. But will it all end with the better life for his family he hopes for?

Synopsis: Maryam is a woman who gets pregnant after 7 years. But at the same time as pregnancy, she gets leukemia. Everyone is trying to save Maryam from leukemia. Maryam must choose between chemotherapy and the birth of the child she has been waiting for for 7 years...

Two friends named Amir Palang and Ahmad Nane Baba Jegaraki are interested in Asieh ; But Asieh is interested in Amir, and Amir tries to stay away from Asieh in favor of Ahmad. Ahmad gets into a fight with Gholi, who owes Asieh's father, and kills him. But Amir is arrested. With the inheritance that comes to him from his aunt, Ahmad accumulates capital and goes to Tehran ...

Maryam finds out that her parents are not her biological parents.

Robabeh who wants to help her father in bread winning for their crowded family begins to work as a baby sitter in a rich family. But she is deceived by a guy Parviz and becomes pregnant. She leaves them and with the help of an old man Taghi begins to work in a cabaret as a singer. But Parviz finds her again and in a quarrel gets killed.

33-year old Ali lives in Tehran and does everything he can to give his 5-year old son a good life, despite their precarious financial situation. But then the child expresses a wish for a real car – a red coupé. It’s not just the money -- inflation and corruption also stand in the way of the dream being realized. Nevertheless, Ali is determined to make his son happy. Whatever the price.

Khosrow, a translator at a trading company, is in love with Mahin, who lives with her seamstress mother. Khosrow’s father, Qazanfar, lives off his wife’s wealth. Qazanfar, a flirtatious man, becomes interested in Mahin’s mother. She asks him to play the role of her father during Mahin’s marriage proposal ceremony…

Amir goes to pick his friend Ali from the airport, where he finds out that Ali's ex-wife, Ghazal has taken her son Ardalan with her illegally and most probably will emigrate soon. Despite all his personal problems, Amir takes Ali to his office to help him find his ex-wife and son.

Dadashi has a little restaurant, his fiancee Goli and his aunt help him. Dadashi's second job is washing cars, and his dream is to live like a millionaire. He meets a rich man who has the opposite dream, and wants to live a simple and carefree life.

Maydegol, an Afghan teenager who emigrated to Iran with her parents, strives to realize her dream of becoming a professional Muay Thai boxer. She is determined not to let her conservative family, her father's violence, or the xenophobic attitude of those around her stand in her way. She works day and night to finance the boxing courses without her parents' knowledge. Through the sport, she learns not only to be successful in the ring, but also to overcome life's difficulties.

With his father in jail, probably for smuggling alcohol across the barbed-wire border, Behruz and his family are destitute. His love of birds and talent for imitating their songs land him the unhappy job of helping to capture them for a local bird merchant. He meets a girl his own age whose mother comes to Iran to sell clothes, but they leave before he has a chance to say goodbye. Qanbari sticks to images and the children’s plaintive faces, old before their time, to tell his story almost without words. Their delicate emotions are echoed in a local bridegroom’s illegal crossing into Azerbaijan for his own wedding.