Popular from Iran
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.
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
Just 6.5
(متری شش و نیم)
Who is trafficking all these drugs for just 6.5 addicts?
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Iran • 2019
- Director Saeed Roustaee
- Cast Payman Maadi, Navid Mohammadzade, Parinaz Izadyar, Farhad Aslani, Houman Kiai, Maziar Seyedi
- Genre Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
- Available on Google Play Movies, Apple TV
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
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
New from Iran
The Good, the Bad & the Corny
(خوب، بد، جلف)
Two inexperienced actors training for roles in a crime thriller are suddenly confronted with a real-life criminal situation.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Iran • 2017
- Director Peyman Ghasemkhani
- Cast Pejman Jamshidi, Hamid Farrokhnejad, Sam Derakhshani, Vishgah Asayesh
- Genre Comedy
- Available on Amazon Video
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
The Song of Sparrows
(آواز گنجشکها)
Karim motorbikes into the incredibly hectic Tehran, where sudden opportunities for independence thrill and challenge him.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Iran • 2008
- Director Majid Majidi
- Cast Mohammad Amir Naji, Hamid Aghazi, Kamran Dehghan, Maryam Akbari, Hamid Aghazi, Schabnam Akhlaghi
- Genre Drama
- Available on Tubi TV
More Than Two Hours
(بیشتر از دو ساعت)
When a woman suffers complications after sex, she and her partner desperately seek out a hospital. But getting help proves difficult.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Iran • 2013
- Director Ali Asgari
- Cast Shahrzad Ghasemi, Taha Mohammadi, Roshanak Haghighattalab, Safoora Kazempour
- Genre Drama
- Available on FilmBox+
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
Disappearance
(ناپدید شدن)
Facing complications after their first time, a young couple has only a few hours to seek out medical attention.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Iran, Qatar • 2017
- Director Ali Asgari
- Cast Sadaf Asgari, Amirreza Ranjbaran, Nafiseh Zarei, Sahar Sotoodeh, Mohammad Heidari, Nazanin Ahmadi
- Genre Drama
- Available on Kanopy
Iron Island
(جزیره آهنی)
A film about the lives of squatters living on an abandoned oil tanker in the Persian Gulf.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Iran • 2005
- Director Mohammad Rasoulof
- Cast Ali Nasirian, Hossein Farzi-Zadeh
- Genre Drama
- Available on FilmBox+, Kanopy
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
Toothache
(Dandan Dard)
As a young boy suffers from tooth woes, a dentist gives an instructional lecture about dental hygiene.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Iran • 1983
- Director Abbas Kiarostami
- Cast
- Genre
- Available on Criterion Channel
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
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 Bread and Alley
(نان و کوچه)
Returning home from an errand, a young boy finds his way blocked by a menacing dog.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Iran • 1970
- Director Abbas Kiarostami
- Cast Reza Hashemi, Mehdi Shahravanfar
- Genre Drama
- Available on Criterion Channel
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
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
Telescope Recommends
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
A Time for Drunken Horses
(Zamani barayé masti asbha)
Courage and hardships of a family of Kurdish orphans forced to support themselves.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Iran • 2000
- Director Bahman Ghobadi
- Cast Ayoub Ahmadi, Rojin Younessi, Amaneh Ekhtiar-dini, Madi Ekhtiar-dini, Kolsolum Ekhtiar-dini, Karim Ekhtiar-dini
- Genre Drama, War
- Available on Kanopy, Eventive
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
Close-Up
(کلوزآپ ، نمای نزدیک)
A young man is arrested for impersonating a famous filmmaker.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Iran • 1990
- Director Abbas Kiarostami
- Cast Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Monoochehr Ahankhah, Mahrokh Ahankhah, Nayer Mohseni Zonoozi
- Genre Crime, Documentary, Drama
- Available on Criterion Channel, Apple TV, Amazon Video
Through the Olive Trees
(زیر درختان زیتون)
Art doesn't always imitate life...even when you want it to.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Iran, France • 1994
- Director Abbas Kiarostami
- Cast Mohamad Ali Keshavarz, Farhad Kheradmand, Zarifeh Shiva, Hossein Rezai, Tahereh Ladanian, Hocine Redai
- Genre Drama
- Available on Criterion Channel
Children of Heaven
(بچههای آسمان)
A brother and sister swap one worn pair of shoes to avoid burdening their already struggling parents.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Iran • 1997
- Director Majid Majidi
- Cast Reza Naji, Amir Farrokh Hashemian, Bahare Seddiqi, Nafise Jafar-Mohammadi, Fereshte Sarabandi, Kamal Mirkarimi
- Genre Drama, Family
- Available on Hoopla, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, YouTube
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
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
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
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,
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
This Is Not a Film
(این فیلم نیست)
If we could tell a film, then why make a film?
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Iran • 2011
- Director Jafar Panahi
- Cast Jafar Panahi, Igi, Mrs. Gheirat, Mojtaba Mirtahmasb, Rakhsan, Sima
- Genre Documentary
- Available on Hoopla, 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
Crimson Gold
(طلای سرخ)
A delivery driver is a daily witness to Iran’s unjust distribution of wealth, eventually driving him to crime.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Iran • 2003
- Director Jafar Panahi
- Cast Hossain Emadeddin, Kamyar Sheisi, Azita Rayeji, Shahram Vaziri, Ehsan Amani, Pourang Nakhael
- Genre Drama
- Available on Fandor, Fandor Amazon Channel, OVID, Amazon Video, Kanopy
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
From Outside Iran
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
Circumstance
Everything wasn't perfect before, but now Atafeh and Shireen face even more obstacles for the sake of their relationship.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, United States, Iran • 2011
- Director Maryam Keshavarz
- Cast Nikohl Boosheri, Sarah Kazemy, Reza Sixo Safai, Soheil Parsa, Nasrin Pakkho, Sina Amedson
- Genre Drama
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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,
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