Popular from Iran
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 Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, Kanopy, Hoopla
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, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Spectrum On Demand
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.
New from Iran
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, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, Hoopla
Beautiful City
(شهر زیبا)
While eighteen-year-old Akbar awaits execution for murder, his sister and friend attempt to convince the plaintiff to commute the sentence.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Iran • 2004
- Director Asghar Farhadi
- Cast Tarane Alidousti, Babak Ansari, Faramarz Gharibian, Ahoo Kheradmand, Hossein Farzi-Zadeh, Farhad Ghaemian
- Genre Drama
- Available on Film Movement Plus, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, Hoopla
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
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
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
Mani
A day in the life of 12-year-old Mani, and the unusual love triangle between Mani, his chauffeur, and his mother.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Iran • 2020
- Director Ashkan Mehri
- Cast Taha Seyf, Milad Moayeri, Vesal Roozkhash
- Genre Drama
- Available on Filmzie
Careless Crime
(جنایت بیدقت)
On an ordinary day, four ordinary people decide to set fire to a cinema packed with people.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Iran • 2021
- Director Shahram Mokri
- Cast Babak Karimi, Siavash Cheraghipour, Mohammad Sareban, Behzad Dorani, Elaheh Bakhshi
- Genre Drama
- Available on Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, YouTube, Tubi TV, Hoopla
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
Telescope Recommends
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
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 Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, Hoopla
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, 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
Turtles Can Fly
(لاکپشتها هم پرواز میکنند)
In 2003 at the Iraqi-Turkish border, Kurdish refugees await invasion by American soldiers.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Iran, France, Iraq • 2005
- Director Bahman Ghobadi
- Cast Soran Ebrahim, Avaz Latif, Saddam Hossein Feysal, Hiresh Feysal Rahman, Abdol Rahman Karim, Ajil Zibari
- Genre Drama
- Available on Amazon Video
Ten
(ده)
Hear her speak.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Iran, France • 2002
- Director Abbas Kiarostami
- Cast Mania Akbari, Amin Maher, Kamran Adl, Roya Arabshahi
- Genre Drama
- Available on Amazon Video, 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
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
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, TCM, Apple TV, Amazon Video
Documentaries from Iran
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 Kanopy
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
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
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
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
Divorce Iranian Style
A look inside an Iranian divorce court.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Iran, United Kingdom • 1998
- Director Ziba Mir-Hosseini
- Cast
- Genre Documentary
- Available on 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
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, Hoopla
The Black Flag
On the front lines with the Shi’a men fighting ISIL in Iraq.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Iran • 2015
- Director Majed Neisi
- Cast
- Genre Documentary
- Available on GuideDoc, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Amazon Video, YouTube
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
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
Monir
A chronicle of the life and work of an influential and innovative Iranian artist, Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Iran • 2017
- Director Bahman Kiarostami
- Cast
- Genre Documentary
- Available on 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
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
F for Fake
(Vérités et Mensonges)
Orson Welles' final film sheds light on the lives of infamous 20th century fakers Elmyr de Hory and Clifford Irving.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, Iran, West Germany • 1973
- Director Orson Welles
- Cast Orson Welles, Elmyr de Hory, Clifford Irving, Oja Kodar, Laurence Harvey, Joseph Cotten
- Genre Documentary
- Available on Criterion Channel, Max Amazon Channel, Apple TV, Amazon Video
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, Fandango At Home, 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, Fandango At Home, 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 Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Apple TV, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Tubi TV, Freevee, Kanopy, Hoopla, Plex, Plex Channel
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, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store
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, 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
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 Kino Film Collection, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, 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 Tubi TV, Hoopla, Plex, Plex Channel
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
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
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