Essential Iranian Cinema
by shaddeld | created - 15 Mar 2013 | updated - 15 Mar 2013 | PublicMust see Iranian movies
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1. A Separation (2011)
PG-13 | 123 min | Drama
A married couple are faced with a difficult decision - to improve the life of their child by moving to another country or to stay in Iran and look after a deteriorating parent who has Alzheimer's disease.
Director: Asghar Farhadi | Stars: Payman Maadi, Leila Hatami, Sareh Bayat, Shahab Hosseini
Votes: 257,854 | Gross: $7.10M
2. About Elly (2009)
TV-PG | 119 min | Drama, Mystery
The mysterious disappearance of a kindergarten teacher during a picnic in the north of Iran is followed by a series of misadventures for her fellow travelers.
Director: Asghar Farhadi | Stars: Taraneh Alidoosti, Golshifteh Farahani, Shahab Hosseini, Merila Zare'i
Votes: 57,001 | Gross: $0.11M
3. The House Is Black (1963)
20 min | Documentary, Short
Set in a leper colony in the north of Iran, The House is Black juxtaposes "ugliness", of which there is much in the world as stated in the opening scenes, with religion and gratitude.
Director: Forugh Farrokhzad | Stars: Forugh Farrokhzad, Ebrahim Golestan, Hossein Mansouri
Votes: 5,534
4. Children of Heaven (1997)
PG | 89 min | Drama, Family, Sport
After a boy loses his sister's pair of shoes, he goes on a series of adventures in order to find them. When he can't, he tries a new way to "win" a new pair.
Director: Majid Majidi | Stars: Mohammad Amir Naji, Amir Farrokh Hashemian, Bahare Seddiqi, Nafise Jafar-Mohammadi
Votes: 80,392 | Gross: $0.93M
5. Where Is the Friend's House? (1987)
Not Rated | 83 min | Drama, Family
Eight-year-old Ahmed has mistakenly taken his friend Mohammad's notebook. He wants to return it, or else his friend will be expelled from school. The boy determinedly sets out to find Mohammad's home in the neighbouring village.
Director: Abbas Kiarostami | Stars: Babek Ahmed Poor, Ahmed Ahmed Poor, Khodabakhsh Defaei, Iran Outari
Votes: 18,519
6. Captain Khorshid (1987)
118 min | Crime, Drama
Khaje Majed informs the authorities about Captain Khorshid smuggling with his ship. The authorities take the smuggling and burn it. Farhan is a new arriver in the port. He wants to smuggle ... See full summary »
Director: Nasser Taghvai | Stars: Dariush Arjmand, Ali Nasirian, Saeed Poursamimi, Parvaneh Massoumi
Votes: 1,231
7. The White Balloon (1995)
Unrated | 85 min | Drama, Family
Several people try to help a little girl to find the money her mom gave her to buy a goldfish with.
Director: Jafar Panahi | Stars: Aida Mohammadkhani, Mohsen Kafili, Fereshteh Sadre Orafaiy, Anna Borkowska
Votes: 8,218 | Gross: $0.47M
8. Bashu, the Little Stranger (1989)
120 min | Drama, War
An Iranian boy is lost after fleeing home for his life; his family has been killed during the Iran-Iraq war. He's saved and trained by a middle-aged woman.
Director: Bahram Beyzaie | Stars: Susan Taslimi, Parviz Poorhosseini, Adnan Afravian, Golshan Anooshe
Votes: 3,186
9. The Wind Will Carry Us (1999)
Not Rated | 118 min | Drama
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.
Director: Abbas Kiarostami | Stars: Behzad Dorani, Noghre Asadi, Roushan Karam Elmi, Bahman Ghobadi
Votes: 12,245 | Gross: $0.21M
10. Once Upon a Time, Cinema (1992)
92 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
An abstract retelling of the history of Film in Iran.
Director: Mohsen Makhmalbaf | Stars: Ezzatolah Entezami, Mehdi Hashemi, Mohamad Ali Keshavarz, Akbar Abdi
Votes: 1,202
11. The Color of Paradise (1999)
PG | 90 min | Drama, Family
The story of Mohammed, a blind Iranian boy and his father, Hashem, who is always oscillating between accepting his son as he is and abandoning him, as he represents a burden for him, after the loss of his wife.
Director: Majid Majidi | Stars: Hossein Mahjoub, Mohsen Ramezani, Salameh Feyzi, Farahnaz Safari
Votes: 18,151 | Gross: $1.81M
12. The Cow (1969)
Not Rated | 104 min | Drama
An old villager deeply in love with his cow goes to the capital for a while. While he's there, the cow dies and now the villagers are afraid of his possible reaction to it when he returns.
Director: Dariush Mehrjui | Stars: Ezzatolah Entezami, Mahin Shahabi, Ali Nasirian, Jamshid Mashayekhi
Votes: 7,962
13. A Cube of Sugar (2011)
PG | 116 min | Comedy, Drama, Family
The story happens in an old house in an old city of Iran. Because of the wedding of the youngest sister, Pasandide, all of her sisters come to their old house to help their mother.
Director: Reza Mirkarimi | Stars: Reza Kianian, Negar Javaherian, Farhad Aslani, Saeed Poursamimi
Votes: 4,247
14. Still Life (1974)
93 min | Drama
The daily life of Mohammad Sardari(Zadour Bonyadi) , a railway switchman on the verge of retirement, who lives with his wife and soldier son near the railway track.
Director: Sohrab Shahid Saless | Stars: Zadour Bonyadi, Mohammed Kani, Hedayatollah Navid, Hibibollah Safarian
Votes: 1,315
15. Turtles Can Fly (2004)
PG-13 | 98 min | Drama, War
Near the Iraqi-Turkish border on the eve of an American invasion, refugee children like 13-year-old Kak (Ebrahim), gauge and await their fate.
Director: Bahman Ghobadi | Stars: Soran Ebrahim, Avaz Latif, Saddam Hossein Feysal, Hiresh Feysal Rahman
Votes: 20,698 | Gross: $0.26M
16. Taste of Cherry (1997)
Not Rated | 95 min | Drama
An Iranian man drives his car in search of someone who will quietly bury him under a cherry tree after he commits suicide.
Director: Abbas Kiarostami | Stars: Homayoun Ershadi, Abdolhosein Bagheri, Afshin Khorshid Bakhtiari, Safar Ali Moradi
Votes: 36,472 | Gross: $0.31M
17. Deep Breath (2003)
86 min | Drama, Romance
This is about two guys who are departed from their family in totally different ways, they are anti social and try to live in a large city without any money, one of them fall in love and another one got addicted.
Director: Parviz Shahbazi | Stars: Mansour Shahbazi, Maryam Palizban, Said Amini
Votes: 918
18. A Time for Drunken Horses (2000)
Not Rated | 80 min | Drama, War
Young Iranian Kurdish siblings try to save the youngest of them, who is seriously ill.
Director: Bahman Ghobadi | Stars: Ayoub Ahmadi, Rojin Younessi, Amaneh Ekhtiar-dini, Madi Ekhtiar-dini
Votes: 8,813 | Gross: $0.70M
19. The Fish Fall in Love (2005)
Not Rated | 96 min | Drama, Romance
After 22 years, Aziz decides to return to his hometown, to sell some family possessions, including the house where he was born. But for his astonishment, the place is now a small restaurant... See full summary »
Director: Ali Rafie | Stars: Reza Kianian, Roya Nonahali, Golshifteh Farahani, Maryam Saadat
Votes: 1,110
20. Gabbeh (1996)
Not Rated | 75 min | Drama, Mystery, Romance
When an old couple washes their gabbeh - a type of Persian rug - a young woman magically appears and tells them her life story.
Director: Mohsen Makhmalbaf | Stars: Shaghayeh Djodat, Hossein Moharami, Rogheih Moharami, Abbas Sayah
Votes: 3,654 | Gross: $0.27M
21. Half Moon (2006)
107 min | Comedy, Drama, Music
Mamo, an old and legendary Kurdish musician living in Iran, plans to give one final concert in Iraqi Kurdistan. After seven months of trying to get a permit and rounding up his ten sons, he... See full summary »
Director: Bahman Ghobadi | Stars: Ismail Ghaffari, Allah-Morad Rashtian, Farzin Sabooni, Kambiz Arshi
Votes: 3,085 | Gross: $0.00M
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