Iranian Must Watch

An Iranian policeman asks a director to make a film about a true stabbing incident involving both of them.

Several people try to help a little girl to find the money her mom gave her to buy a goldfish with.

An Iranian man drives his car in search of someone who will quietly bury him under a cherry tree after he commits suicide.

Irreverent city engineer Behzad comes to a rural village in Iran to keep vigil for a dying relative. In the meanwhile the film follows his efforts to fit in with the local community and how he changes his own attitudes as a result.

Five characters are stuck on an island, from where they hope to escape to "somewhere else", the utopia of their dreams. Dr. Tavussi (Ahmad Najafi) offers to help them illegally cross the border, but then keeps them waiting - A complex drama, theatrical and explosive, abstract and direct in turns, and a parable on the suffering of the emigrants, exiles and asylum seekers of today's world.

A political allegory on four middle-class guys who pile into their car for a ski weekend. A brief stop at a picturesque vista leads to their chance discovery of a prominent rock formation it seems would be oh so easy to tip over, but...

An Iranian pizza delivery man sees the worst of corruption and social unbalance in his city and is driven to crime.

A chain smoker is about to marry his fiance; her only condition is for him to quit smoking. He has to make a difficult choice as his profession is interconnected with this poisonous passion.

A violent quarrel breaks out between a couple at midnight. Being at a relative,s house in the north of Iran, they depart for Tehran in the middle of the night, but they do not bring along their son. Something terrible happens on their way...

A valuable visual commentary on modern society, 'Under The Skin Of The City' follows one Iranian family in their eternal struggle to stay afloat financially and emotionally. Touba works hard at a textile factory to make ends meet during the day, returning in the evening to face the trials and tribulations of her family: her pregnant daughter who frequently suffers at the hands of her abusive husband, a son embroiled in radical politics, and another son who hopes to escape to Japan. In their fight for self-determination and independence, Touba and her family come to represent the plight of the working class in modern day Tehran.

The wife of Nasim, an Afghan immigrant in Iran, is gravely ill. He needs money to pay for her care, but his day labor digging wells does not pay enough. A friend connects Nasim to a two-bit promoter who sells tickets to watch Nasim ride a bicycle continuously for a week. The promoter brings in sick and aged spectators, haranguing them to find hope in Nasim's strength. Aided by his son, who feeds him as he rides, Nasim grinds out the days and shivering nights. Local officials believe this may be a plot and Nasim may be a spy; they try to sabotage him as do those who bet he won't finish the week. Will desperation alone get Nasim the money? Is any triumph an illusion?

Rahmat has been asked to meet the inhabitants of these islands to collect their tears. Although for years people have been giving their tears to Rahmat, no one knows exactly what he has been doing with them.

Some poor people in the Southern coasts of Iran do not have any place to live, and thus, they reside on an old, abandoned ship in the sea. Captain Nemat, their chief, tries to persuade the ship-owner and the official authorities not to get the ship back. On the other hand, he is selling the iron parts of the ship piece by piece. 'Iron Island' is the story of those whose ignorance makes them simply trust those who are always ready to abuse their trust.

Every day, 10-year-old Khorsid takes the bus to his work at an instrument maker's shop, and every day something unexpected happens.

Story of a young lawyer in Tehran in search of a visa to leave the country, which is what Mohammad Rasoulof did during the winter of 2010/11.

The film recounts the story of a young couple on their way to Melbourne to continue their studies. However, just a few hours before the departure of their flight, they are unintentionally involved in a tragic event.

Story of a teenage Iranian boy who earns his living carrying luggage for tourists at an Iranian-Iraqi border. When he falls for Noura, a beautiful young Iraqi woman who seems to help Iraqi people cross the border, his life takes a dangerous turn, as he is willing to do almost anything for her

A series of seven vignettes about different people dealing with their every day problems in modern day Iran, that are loosely related to each other.

Abbas has turned his own home to a guest house in a nomadic area of Iran. With the support of his wife and three children, he runs a successful Eco-tourism business. He has an ambitious dream, creating a new tribe by his own and becoming the sovereign. Therefore, he plans seriously to fulfill his dream and searching for a nomadic girl to be the queen of his tribe. Since he is Muslim, he has the right of taking more than one wife at the same time. His current wife and children are against this idea and break up with him.

Filmmaker Mitra Farahani portrays love and sex in today's Iran. One part fiction and one part documentary, the film was shot secretly and is banned in its native country. The fictional part is based on "The story of Zohra and Manouchehr" poem of Iraj Mirza.

Shahram Golchin is a professional film actor from pre-revolution Iran who was trapped between worlds in the prime of his career. Debilitated by a range of illnesses and a strong sense of exile, he is our window to the other characters of this film. Faces is an experimental documentary exploring the life and work of diasporic artists as they represent themselves through their art and stories. This multi-layered documentary reflects on politics, pop-culture, history and the power of popular media.

A meditation on a now lost era in the history of Shiraz, an ancient city in the south of Iran.

AMIN portrays Qashqai musician Amin Aghaie, a young modern nomad and his family who despite facing steep financial, cultural and political obstacles are dedicated to their art and culture. Amin travels to remote towns and villages to record the music of the surviving masters whose numbers decline each year. His nomadic family are selling their meager belongings to help support their son's education in performance and ethnomusicology at Tchaikovsky's Conservatory in Kyiv, Ukraine, but it is not enough. Amin, desperate to finish his academic education, sells his violins one at a time just to pay for his tuition.

SHAHRZAAD'S TALE is a cinematic documentary, a complex and subtle exploration of the life and work of a famous cultural artist, who time has forgotten.

An illustration of gradual destruction of an urban monster.