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
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 Kino Film Collection, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, YouTube, Kanopy, Hoopla
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 Kino Film Collection, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, 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 Kino Film Collection, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, Kanopy, Hoopla
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 Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Plex, Plex Channel, Darkroom
New from Iran
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, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, Plex, Hoopla
Life and a Day
(ابد و یک روز)
Somaieh, the youngest daughter of a poor family, is getting married. But as the wedding date draws closer, it seems that the groom may not be what he appears.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Iran • 2016
- Director Saeed Roustaee
- Cast Payman Maadi, Parinaz Izadyar, Navid Mohammadzade, Shabnam Moghadami, Rima Raminfar, Mahdi Gorbani
- Genre Drama, Thriller
- Available on Amazon Video
Terrestrial Verses
(آیه های زمینی)
The lives of ordinary people in Iran as showcased in nine separate vignettes.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Iran • 2023
- Director Alireza Khatami, Ali Asgari
- Cast Majid Salehi, Gohar Kheyrandish, Farzin Mohades, Sadaf Asgari, Hossein Soleymani, Faezeh Rad
- Genre Comedy, Drama
- Available on Criterion Channel
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
Inversion
(وارونگی)
Niloofar is torn between loyalty and self-determination after her family instructs her to leave Tehran with her sickly mother.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Iran • 2016
- Director Behnam Behzadi
- Cast Sahar Dolatshahi, Ali Mosaffa, Setareh Pesyani, Roya Javidnia, Shirin Yazdanbakhsh
- Genre Drama
- Available on Kanopy
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 Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Tubi TV, Filmzie, Hoopla
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
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
Our Uniform
Through this short, director Yegane Moghaddam reflects on her experience wearing a hijab in school.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Iran • 2023
- Director Yegane Moghaddam
- Cast
- Genre Animation, Documentary
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, YouTube
Telescope Recommends
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 Fandango At Home
Where Is the Friend's House?
(خانهی دوست کجاست؟)
After accidentally taking his friend's notebook, an 8-year-old boy sets out to return it.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Iran • 1987
- Director Abbas Kiarostami
- Cast Babek Ahmed Poor, Ahmed Ahmed Poor, Kheda Barech Defai, Iran Outari, Ait Ansari, Sadika Taohidi
- Genre Drama
- Available on Criterion Channel
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
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
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 Kino Film Collection, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, 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 Kino Film Collection, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, Kanopy
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 Kino Film Collection, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, 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 Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Plex, Plex Channel, Darkroom
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 Apple TV, Fandango At Home, Kanopy, Hoopla
Documentaries from Iran
Divorce Iranian Style
A look inside an Iranian divorce court.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Iran, United Kingdom • 1998
- Director Ziba Mir-Hosseini
- Cast
- Genre Documentary
- Available on Kanopy
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
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
The Snow Calls
Mina has three daughters and is now pregnant with her fourth child. The people of her community – including her husband – believe that a man must have at least one son.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Iran • 2020
- Director Marjan Khosravi
- Cast
- Genre Documentary
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, YouTube
Homework
(مشق شب)
Interviews with young male students explore the different kinds of issues Iranian children face completing their homework.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Iran • 1989
- Director Abbas Kiarostami
- Cast Babak Ahmadpoor, Farhang Akhavan, Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh, Abbas Kiarostami, Iraj Safavi
- Genre Documentary
- Available on Criterion Channel
Death and the Judge
(قاضی و مرگ)
A notorious Iranian judge spends his days confronting decisions about life and death.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Iran, Netherlands • 2018
- Director Hassan Khademi
- Cast Nourollah Aziz-Mohammadi
- Genre Crime, Documentary, Family
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, YouTube
Iranian
(Iranien)
An atheist Iranian filmmaker engages four mullahs in a group conversation about faith, belief, and daily life.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, Switzerland, Iran • 2014
- Director Mehran Tamadon
- Cast Mohsen Kalhor
- Genre Documentary
- Available on Apple TV
Alone Through Iran: 1144 Miles of Trust
A Swedish long distance runner embarks on a 58-day journey across Iran.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Sweden, Iran • 2017
- Director André Larsson, Shamim Berkeh
- Cast Kristina Paltén
- Genre Documentary
- Available on Amazon Video
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
Our Uniform
Through this short, director Yegane Moghaddam reflects on her experience wearing a hijab in school.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Iran • 2023
- Director Yegane Moghaddam
- Cast
- Genre Animation, Documentary
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, YouTube
ABC Africa
Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami documents his experience with resilient children left orphaned by the Ugandan Civil War and AIDS crisis.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Iran • 2001
- Director Abbas Kiarostami
- Cast
- Genre Documentary
- Available on Criterion Channel, 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
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
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
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
From Outside Iran
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 Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Apple TV, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Tubi TV, Freevee, Kanopy, Hoopla, Plex, Plex Channel
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, Fandango At Home, 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, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube
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, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube
Festival Favorites
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, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video
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 Kino Film Collection, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, Kanopy
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 Kino Film Collection, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, YouTube, Kanopy, Hoopla
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 Apple TV, Amazon Video, Kanopy, Hoopla
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 Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, The Roku Channel, Kanopy, Plex, Plex Channel
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, Freevee
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
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 Kino Film Collection, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, 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