Popular from Iran
The Salesman
(فروشنده)
Emad and Rana move into a new flat, but an incident with the previous tenant dramatically changes their life.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Iran, France • 2016
- Director Asghar Farhadi
- Cast Shahab Hosseini, Taraneh Alidoosti, Babak Karimi, Mina Sadati, Mehdi Koushki, Farid Sajjadi Hosseini
- Genre Drama, Thriller
- Available on Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Freevee
A Separation
(جدایی نادر از سیمین)
Simin wants to leave Iran to give her daughter, Termeh, a different kind of life outside the country. But Nader, Termeh’s father, refuses to leave his ailing father behind.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Iran, France • 2011
- Director Asghar Farhadi
- Cast Leila Hatami, Payman Maadi, Shahab Hosseini, Sareh Bayat, Sarina Farhadi, Babak Karimi
- Genre Drama
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Spectrum On Demand
Chess of the Wind
(شطرنج باد)
A web of greed, violence, and betrayal ensnares the heirs to a family fortune vying for control of the estate.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Iran • 1976
- Director Mohammad Reza Aslani
- Cast Fakhri Khorvash, Mohammadali Keshavarz, Akbar Zanjanpour, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Shahram Golchin, Hamid Taati
- Genre Drama, Mystery, Thriller
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Taxi
(تاکسی)
An exiled filmmaker posing as a cab driver captures incisive portraits of diverse passengers in present-day Tehran.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Iran • 2015
- Director Jafar Panahi
- Cast Jafar Panahi
- Genre Comedy, Documentary
- Available on Hoopla, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, YouTube, Kino Now, Kanopy
Tehran Taboo
Four young people from Tehran, Iran are forced to break the taboos of a restrictive Islamic society.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Germany, Austria • 2017
- Director Ali Soozandeh
- Cast Arash Marandi, Alireza Bayram, Siir Eloglu, Zahra Amir Ebrahimi, Klaus Ofczarek
- Genre Drama, Animation
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, YouTube, Kino Now, Kanopy
Hit the Road
(جاده خاکی)
A family bonds on a road trip through northwestern Iran.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Iran • 2022
- Director Panah Panahi
- Cast Hassan Madjooni, Pantea Panahiha, Rayan Sarlak, Amin Simiar, Masoud Tosifyan
- Genre Drama
- Available on Showtime, Hoopla, fuboTV, Paramount+ Amazon Channel, Showtime Roku Premium Channel, Showtime Apple TV Channel, Paramount+ with Showtime, Paramount Plus Apple TV Channel , Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, YouTube, Kino Now, Kanopy
New from Iran
Zalava
(زالاوا)
While investigating claims of a demon inhabiting a small village, a skeptical young sergeant crosses paths with an exorcist.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Iran • 2021
- Director Arsalan Amiri
- Cast Navid Pourfaraj, Pouria Rahimi Sam, Hoda Zeynolabedin, Fereydoun Hamedi, Shahoo Rostami, Baset Rezaei
- Genre Drama, Horror
- Available on Amazon Video
The Cow
(گاو)
An old villager is driven mad by the loss of his beloved cow.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Iran • 1969
- Director Dariush Mehrjui
- Cast Ezzatolah Entezami, Mahin Shahabi, Ali Nasirian, Jamshid Mashayekhi, Firouz Behjat-Mohamadi, Jafar Vali
- Genre Drama
- Available on Fandor Amazon Channel
Two Solutions for One Problem
(دو راه حل برای يک مسئله)
After one young schoolboy tears his friend’s notebook, two diverging outcomes – of conflict and of peace – are presented.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Iran • 1975
- Director Abbas Kiarostami
- Cast
- Genre Documentary
- Available on Criterion Channel
So Can I
(منم میتونم)
Two schoolboys watch animated views of animals’ actions and imitate them.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Iran • 1975
- Director Abbas Kiarostami
- Cast
- Genre Drama
- Available on Criterion Channel
Our Times
(روزگار ما)
A documentary about the 2002 presidential election in Iran.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Iran • 2002
- Director Rakhshan Bani-Etemad
- Cast Pegah Ahangarani, Arezu Bayat, Reza Davoudnejad, Ehsan Delaviz, Baran Kosari
- Genre Documentary
- Available on Film Movement Plus
Invasion
(هجوم)
Police stage a reconstruction of a murder in the ominous stadium of an amateur sports team.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Iran • 2017
- Director Shahram Mokri
- Cast Abed Abest, Elaheh Bakhshi, Babak Karimi, Levon Haftvan, Mohamad Sareban, Behzad Dorani
- Genre Crime, Drama, Mystery
- Available on Vudu, Amazon Video, Tubi TV
Finding Farideh
(در جستجوی فریده)
An Iranian woman raised by a Dutch couple travels to Iran to try and find her biological parents.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Iran, Netherlands • 2018
- Director Kourosh Ataee, Azadeh Moussavi
- Cast Eline Farideh Koning
- Genre Documentary
- Available on True Story
First Graders
(اولی هاSo)
A documentary film about young schoolboys and their superintendent, who is responsible for dealing with latecomers and discipline problems.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Iran • 1984
- Director Abbas Kiarostami
- Cast
- Genre Documentary
- Available on Criterion Channel
Bassidji
To better understand their ideas, Mehran Tamadon engages with extremist supporters of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Basij.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Iran, France, Switzerland • 2009
- Director Mehran Tamadon
- Cast
- Genre
- Available on DocAlliance Films
First Case, Second Case
(قضیه شکل اول... شکل دوم.)
Two versions of a classroom discipline situation, evaluated by talking heads in terms of morality, rights, and responsibilities.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Iran • 1979
- Director Abbas Kiarostami
- Cast Mehdi Azadbakht, Mohammadreza Barati, Hedayat Matin Daftari, Nader Ebrahimi, Ehteram Boroumand, Ezzatolah Entezami
- Genre Documentary
- Available on Criterion Channel
No Bears
(خرس نیست)
Lovers in two parallel love stories are thwarted by hidden obstacles, the force of superstition, and the mechanics of power.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Iran • 2022
- Director Jafar Panahi
- Cast Naser Hashemi, Bakhtiyar Panjeei, Vahid Mobaser, Jafar Panahi, Mina Kavani, Reza Heydari
- Genre Drama
- Available on Criterion Channel, Apple TV, Vudu, Amazon Video
Shahrzad
(شهرزاد)
Around the time of the 1953 Iranian coup d'état, an Iranian mafia boss disrupts a young couple’s plans for marriage.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Iran • 2015
- Creator Hassan Fathi
- Cast Tarane Alidousti, Shahab Hosseini, Mostafa Zamani, Parinaz Izadyar, Mehdi Soltani, Parviz Fallahipour
- Genre Drama
- Available on Amazon Video
Nabat
(نبات)
The peaceful existence of a single father and his young daughter is disrupted when a strange woman unexpectedly enters their lives.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Iran • 2019
- Director Pegah Arzi
- Cast Shahab Hosseini, Nazanin Farahani, Setayesh Mahmoudi
- Genre Drama
- Available on Amazon Video
Dancing in the Dust
(رقص در غبار)
Hiding from creditors in the desert, a man works with a snake hunter to make enough money to settle his debts.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Iran • 2003
- Director Asghar Farhadi
- Cast Faramarz Gharibian, Yousef Khodaparast, Baran Kosari, Jalal Sarhad Seraj
- Genre Drama
- Available on Film Movement Plus, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, YouTube
Pig
(خوک)
A blacklisted filmmaker feels hurt and underappreciated when he is ignored by a serial killer targeting film directors.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Iran • 2018
- Director Mani Haghighi
- Cast Hasan Ma'juni, Leila Hatami, Leili Rashidi, Parinaz Izadyar, Ali Bagheri, Mina Jafarzade
- Genre Comedy, Drama, Horror
- Available on Amazon Video
Telescope Recommends
A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
A lonely vampire preys on the depraved residents of Bad City — but finds love in another tortured soul.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Iran, United States • 2014
- Director Ana Lily Amirpour
- Cast Sheila Vand, Arash Marandi, Marshall Manesh, Mozhan Marnò, Dominic Rains, Rome Shadanloo
- Genre Horror, Romance, Western
- Available on Hoopla, Metrograph, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, YouTube, Kino Now, Kanopy
The Colour of Paradise
(رنگ خدا)
How far will a widowed father go to deny his blind son in order to find a new wife?
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Iran • 1999
- Director Majid Majidi
- Cast Hossein Mahjoub, Mohsen Ramezani, Salameh Feyzi, Farahnaz Safari, Elham Sharifi, Behzad Rafi
- Genre Drama, Family
- Available on Vudu
Hit the Road
(جاده خاکی)
A family bonds on a road trip through northwestern Iran.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Iran • 2022
- Director Panah Panahi
- Cast Hassan Madjooni, Pantea Panahiha, Rayan Sarlak, Amin Simiar, Masoud Tosifyan
- Genre Drama
- Available on Showtime, Hoopla, fuboTV, Paramount+ Amazon Channel, Showtime Roku Premium Channel, Showtime Apple TV Channel, Paramount+ with Showtime, Paramount Plus Apple TV Channel , Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, YouTube, Kino Now, Kanopy
Manuscripts Don't Burn
(دستنویسها نمیسوزند)
Two Iranian agents search for a manuscript that reveals government secrets — leaving a trail of bodies in their wake.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Iran • 2014
- Director Mohammad Rasoulof
- Cast Ramin Parham
- Genre Crime, Drama
- Available on Hoopla, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, YouTube, Kino Now, Kanopy
24 Frames
An experimental project in which filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami combines photography and filmmaking.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Iran, France • 2017
- Director Abbas Kiarostami
- Cast
- Genre Documentary
- Available on Criterion Channel
Fireworks Wednesday
(چهارشنبه سوری)
A dissatisfied wife enlists her housekeeper’s help to gather information on the woman she suspects is having an affair with her husband.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Iran • 2006
- Director Asghar Farhadi
- Cast Hamid Farrokhnejad, Hedie Tehrani, Tarane Alidousti, Pantea Bahram, Sahar Dolatshahi
- Genre Drama
- Available on Fandor, Hoopla, MZ Choice Amazon Channel, Topic, Metrograph, Apple TV, Amazon Video, Tubi TV, Kanopy, Plex,
The Other Side of the Wind
A grizzled director returns from years abroad in Europe to a changed Hollywood, where he attempts to make his innovative comeback film.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, Iran, United States • 2018
- Director Orson Welles
- Cast John Huston, Oja Kodar, Peter Bogdanovich, Susan Strasberg, Norman Foster, Robert Random
- Genre Comedy, Drama
- Available on Netflix, Netflix basic with Ads
The Wind Will Carry Us
(باد ما را خواهد برد)
A city man has more to learn than he thinks from the townspeople where his dying relative lives.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Iran, France • 1999
- Director Abbas Kiarostami
- Cast Behzad Dorani, Noghre Asadi, Roushan Karam Elmi, Bahman Ghobadi, Shahpour Ghobadi, Reihan Heidari
- Genre Drama
- Available on Vudu, Amazon Video
Sunless Shadows
The lives of Iranian girls imprisoned for murdering male family members.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Iran, Norway • 2022
- Director Mehrdad Oskouei
- Cast
- Genre Documentary
- Available on Kanopy
Taste of Cherry
(طعم گيلاس)
A middle-aged man, Mr. Badii, seeks someone to bury him after he commits suicide.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Iran, France • 1997
- Director Abbas Kiarostami
- Cast Homayoun Ershadi, Abdolrahman Bagheri, Afshin Khorshid Bakhtiari, Safar Ali Moradi, Mir Hossein Noori, Ahmad Ansari
- Genre Drama
- Available on Criterion Channel, Max Amazon Channel, Max, Kanopy
Life, and Nothing More...
(زندگی و دیگر هیچ)
A town rebuilds itself after the earthquake of Guilan.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Iran • 1992
- Director Abbas Kiarostami
- Cast Farhad Kheradmand, Buba Bayour, Hocine Rifahi, Ferhendeh Feydi, Mahrem Feydi, Bahrovz Aydini
- Genre Drama
- Available on Criterion Channel
About Elly
(درباره الی)
A woman vanishes during a vacation with friends, causing them to blame each other for the disappearance.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Iran, France • 2009
- Director Asghar Farhadi
- Cast Golshifteh Farahani, Tarane Alidousti, Shahab Hosseini, Merila Zarei, Mani Haghighi, Peyman Maadi
- Genre Drama
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, YouTube, Kanopy
The White Balloon
(بادکنک سفید)
Seven-year-old Razieh and her brother set out for the pet shop, after Razieh sets her heart on a goldfish in the shop window.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Iran • 1995
- Director Jafar Panahi
- Cast Aida Mohammadkhani, Mohsen Kafili, Fereshteh Sadre Orafaiy, Anna Borkowska, Mohammad Shahani
- Genre Drama, Family
- Available on Criterion Channel
The House Is Black
(خانه سیاه است)
A look at life and suffering in a leper colony with a focus on the beauty of creation.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Iran • 1963
- Director Forugh Farrokhzad
- Cast Forugh Farrokhzad, Ebrahim Golestan, Hossein Mansouri
- Genre Documentary
- Available on Criterion Channel
Rain
(باران)
An unlikely kinship is found between two workers on a building site in Tehran.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Iran • 2001
- Director Majid Majidi
- Cast Hossein Abedini, Zahra Bahrami, Mohammad Amir Naji, Hossein Mahjoub, Abbas Rahimi, Gholam Ali Bakhshi
- Genre Drama, Romance
- Available on Hoopla, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, YouTube
From Outside Iran
Under the Shadow
After Shideh's building is hit by a missile during the Iran-Iraq War, a superstitious neighbor says the missile was cursed.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom, Jordan, Qatar • 2016
- Director Babak Anvari
- Cast Narges Rashidi, Avin Manshadi, Bobby Naderi, Ray Haratian, Hamid Djavadan, Bijan Daneshmand
- Genre Drama, Horror, Thriller, War
- Available on Netflix, Hoopla, Netflix basic with Ads, Apple TV, Vudu, Amazon Video
Gholam
An Iranian immigrant living in London tries to escape his mysterious past.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom, Iran • 2017
- Director Mitra Tabrizian
- Cast Shahab Hosseini, Corinne Skinner-Carter, Armin Karima, Russell Parsi
- Genre Drama, Thriller
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, YouTube
Holy Spider
(عنکبوت مقدس)
A journalist descends into the dark underbelly of the Iranian holy city of Mashhad to investigate the serial killings of sex workers.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Denmark, Germany, Sweden • 2022
- Director Ali Abbasi
- Cast Zar Amir Ebrahimi, Mehdi Bajestani, Arash Ashtiani, Forouzan Jamshidnejad, Sina Parvaneh, Nima Akbarpour
- Genre Crime, Drama, Thriller
- Available on Netflix, Netflix basic with Ads, Apple TV, Vudu, Amazon Video
The Charmer
(Charmøren)
A young Iranian man desperately tries to seduce a woman who can secure his citizenship in Denmark.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Denmark, Sweden • 2018
- Director Milad Alami
- Cast Ardalan Esmaili, Soho Rezanejad, Lars Brygmann, Susan Taslimi, Stine Fischer Christensen, Amalie Lindegård
- Genre Drama, Thriller
- Available on Hoopla, Apple TV, Vudu, Amazon Video, Tubi TV, Freevee, Kanopy, Plex,
Festival Favorites
Ava
Coming-of-age in Tehran, a young girl starts to rebel against against the strictures imposed by her school and the society at large.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Iran, Canada, Qatar • 2017
- Director Sadaf Foroughi
- Cast Mahour Jabbari, Vahid Aghapoor, Parnian Akhtari, Sarah Alimoradi, Mona Ghiasi
- Genre Drama
- Available on Hoopla, Topic, Apple TV, Amazon Video, Kanopy
Sunless Shadows
The lives of Iranian girls imprisoned for murdering male family members.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Iran, Norway • 2022
- Director Mehrdad Oskouei
- Cast
- Genre Documentary
- Available on Kanopy
A Hero
(قهرمان)
A good deed turns a man into a local celebrity, and also raises the suspicions of those closest to him.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, Iran • 2021
- Director Asghar Farhadi
- Cast
- Genre Drama
- Available on Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads
Taxi
(تاکسی)
An exiled filmmaker posing as a cab driver captures incisive portraits of diverse passengers in present-day Tehran.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Iran • 2015
- Director Jafar Panahi
- Cast Jafar Panahi
- Genre Comedy, Documentary
- Available on Hoopla, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, YouTube, Kino Now, Kanopy
Starless Dreams
(رویاهای بدون ستاره)
This gentle, honest documentary takes the viewer within the walls of an Iranian center of correction and rehabilitation for women.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Iran • 2017
- Director Mehrdad Oskouei
- Cast
- Genre Documentary
- Available on Apple TV, Kanopy
3 Faces
(سه رخ)
Actress Behnaz Jafari and director Jafar Panahi take a road trip to rural Iran in hopes of saving a missing girl.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Iran • 2018
- Director Jafar Panahi
- Cast Behnaz Jafari, Jafar Panahi, Marziyeh Rezaei, Maedeh Erteghaei, Narges Del Aram
- Genre Drama
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, YouTube, Kino Now, Kanopy
There Is No Evil
(شیطان وجود ندارد)
Shot in secret and smuggled out of Iran, this anthology film comprises four stories of men responsible for implementing capital punishment.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Germany, Iran, Czech Republic • 2020
- Director Mohammad Rasoulof
- Cast Mahtab Servati, Shaghayegh Shourian, Baran Rasoulof, Darya Moghbeli, Kaveh Ahangar
- Genre Drama
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, YouTube, Kino Now, Kanopy
No Date, No Signature
(بدون تاریخ بدون امضا)
One day at Kaveh he meets a corpse which is very familiar to him at work.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Iran • 2017
- Director Vahid Jalilvand
- Cast Amir Aghaee, Navid Mohammadzadeh, Hediyeh Tehrani, Zakiyeh Behbahani, Saeed Dakh, Alireza Ostadi
- Genre Drama, Mystery, Thriller
- Available on Hoopla, Amazon Video, Tubi TV, Plex,
Yalda
(یلدا)
Maryam accidentally kills her husband, and the only way to suspend her death sentence is if Nasser’s daughter forgives her on live television.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Iran, France, Germany • 2020
- Director Massoud Bakhshi
- Cast Sadaf Asgari, Behnaz Jafari, Babak Karimi, Fereshteh Sadr Orafaee, Forough Ghajebeglou
- Genre Drama
- Available on Hoopla, Film Movement Plus, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, YouTube, The Roku Channel, Kanopy