Persian

  • Shahram Mokri – Mahi va gorbeh AKA Fish & Cat (2013)

    2011-2020DramaIranMysteryShahram Mokri

    Quote:
    A group of students decides to camp on a desolate Caspian region which runs a competition of kite flying during the winter solstice. Not far from the camp, live Babak and Saeed, two grim cooks. Armed with sharp knives, they roam the forest in search of meat to serve the decrepit restaurant they run nearby…Read More »

  • Bahram Beizai – Safar AKA The Journey (1972)

    1971-1980Bahram BeizaiDramaIranShort Film

    The story is about two poor boy’s search for their father through a “Journey” from downtown to uptown.
    Two hungry boys are forced to move through the events, people and unrealistic and risky places in a nightmare way.
    A daily journey in search of their lost identity and worth! The have neither the money nor the ability to commit theft and fraud…Read More »

  • Mehrdad Oskouei – Royahaye dame sobh AKA Starless Dreams (2016)

    2011-2020DocumentaryIranMehrdad Oskouei

    “Sir, when people wonder if God is a man or woman,
    no one thinks God could be a woman!”

    An unforgettable portrayal of innocence lost and found, STARLESS DREAMS plunges us into the lives of young teenage girls sharing temporary quarters at a juvenile detention center on the outskirts of Tehran. Director Mehrdad Oskouei, one of Iran’s most prominent filmmakers, spent seven years securing access to this all-female facility. As the New Year approaches, the girls bond, and reveal—with playfully disarming honesty—the circumstances and acts that resulted in their incarceration. They have killed their father, robbed a bank, or were arrested for carrying 651 grams of cocaine. Outside the prison walls, danger is everywhere, even within their own families.Read More »

  • Kim Longinotto & Ziba Mir-Hosseini – Divorce Iranian Style (1998)

    1991-2000DocumentaryDramaIranKim LonginottoZiba Mir-Hosseini

    Quote:
    Divorce Iranian Style challenges preconceptions about what life is like for women in Iran. The most startling thing about the film is simply that it was made. The filmmakers follow the cases of three women who are attempting to divorce their husbands. Although Iranian religious law frowns on divorce, a man is allowed to claim the privilege without needing to show cause, provided he pays his ex-wife compensation. A woman, however, can only sue for divorce if she can prove that her husband is sterile or mad, or if he agrees to let her out of their marriage contract. In the last case, the compensation becomes the bargaining chip: the man will sometimes give his wife her freedom if he doesn’t have to pay.Read More »

  • Kim Longinotto & Ziba Mir-Hosseini – Runaway [+Extras] (2001)

    2001-2010DocumentaryDramaIranKim LonginottoZiba Mir-Hosseini

    Quote:
    At first nothing strikes you out of the usual with Runaway. It is a straightforward documentary of exchanges between counselors at a women’s shelter and adolescent girls who have run away from abusive homes. Their conversations and their daily activities are captured with authenticity and simplicity.Read More »

  • Mohammad Rasoulof – Baad-e-daboor AKA Head Wind (2008)

    2001-2010DocumentaryIranMohammad Rasoulof

    Plot Synopsis From Allmovie:
    Iran is a nation where the government carefully regulates what its citizens may see on television, read in the newspapers, or access on the internet. However, despite the country’s repressive policies, many people enjoy news and entertainment outside the purview of their leaders, and filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof examines what Iranians are viewing on the sly and how they find it in the documentary Baad-e-daboor (aka Head Wind). In order to watch television programming not on the official approved list, well-to-do Iranians need little more than to purchase a satellite dish, which can easily be hidden on their property (and homeowners can use the defense that unauthorized channels were supposed to be blocked on their system). Read More »

  • Abbas Kiarostami – Az Oghat-e Faraghat-e Khod Chegouneh Estefadeh Konim? AKA How to Make Use of Our Leisure Time? (1977)

    1971-1980Abbas KiarostamiIranShort Film

    Quote:
    Evidently the first installment in a series that didn’t continue, this instructional film shows idle twelve- and sixteen-year-
old brothers learning how to improve their surroundings by painting an old door. With the narrator giving step-by-step instructions, the boys go through the processes of sanding, applying primer, and mixing different types of paint. Whatever its educational value, the film’s quiet enthusiasm for its subject also reflects Kiarostami’s own interest in woodworking.Read More »

  • Ebrahim Golestan – Tappe-haye Marlik AKA The Hills of Marlik (1963)

    1961-1970DocumentaryEbrahim GolestanIranShort Film

    A beautiful short by the Iranian director about the archaelogical excavations in the area of the Marlik hills. Narrated by Golestan, the film features a reflective voice-over text exploring the lives, hopes and myths of the people who once lived there and who live there today. A very lyrical film, and a small masterpiece.Read More »

  • Mohsen Makhmalbaf – Dastforoush AKA The Peddler (1987)

    Drama1981-1990ArthouseIranMohsen Makhmalbaf

    Consisting of three separate stories, the director explores “Man” as a theme: birth, life and death, to present a sometimes comic, sometimes tragic portrait of life at the bottom of the socio-economic pile.Read More »

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