Iranian Documentary Films

Untouched by the temp­ta­tions of the modern world, the Seyed Ghe­l­ish Ishan Sem­i­nary, found­ed 200 years ago, stands as a time­less fortress in the quiet land­scape of Turk­men Sahra. Young … read more

In south­ern Iran, and espe­cial­ly in the ports of Bandar Abbas and Bandar Lengee, an ancient belief has it that the Djinn wind affects people by scat­ter­ing them all over … read more

Caught up in the insane bot­tle­necks of Teheran, a traf­fic cop tries to enforce a pro­hi­bi­tion. Having done this, he then pro­ceeds to demon­strate the flex­i­bil­i­ty of the law and … read more

A fas­ci­nat­ing and inti­mate por­trait of a seem­ing­ly unlike­ly artist. Mokar­rameh, a widow living in rural Iran, dips into her mem­o­ries as well as into colour­ful local leg­ends to create vivid, detailed paint­ings. Her intense desire to create began when she lost her cow. Dis­traught, she con­soled her­self by paint­ing on a rock. Now, years later, Mokarrameh’s home lit­er­al­ly over­flows with her paint­ings. Orig­i­nal­ly, she worked with mud and cow dung; now she uses paints bought by her son. A dis­turb­ing com­men­tary on the role of women emerges when her husband’s first wife comes for tea. Amidst their bick­er­ing, the two women recall their hard lives, and Mokar­rameh reveals that her art is a »means of sub­stance«. Kathy Geritz 

In a house on a river, a women lives with her mother. From pho­tographs on the wall, her deceased hus­band and father look down on her daily drudgery and toil. … read more

The film describes the ritual of vis­it­ing the shrine of »Imam Reza«, the eighth Shiite Imam, in the holy city of Mashad, and the Bunuel-like behav­iour of the pilgrims.

»Paint, no matter what those around you think«; this is the motto of the main char­ac­ter of the film. His chil­dren are proud of their father, but his mother and … read more

A »dubee« is a wide boat used to trans­port pas­sen­gers between the two banks of the River Karun in south­ern Iran. The river cur­rent is the only source of energy … read more

An item appears in the Iran­ian press about a vil­lage boy who averts a train cat­a­stro­phe by warn­ing the author­i­ties that the track was dam­aged by set­ting fire to his … read more

The old man who is in charge of dis­trib­ut­ing water from the Nimevar Chan­nel to the inhab­i­tants, breaks down »Barema« dam each year to direct water to the river. The … read more

This film is set against the hous­ing prob­lems in Teheran which occurred in the first few years after the rev­o­lu­tion. Mokhtari shows the fierce every­day con­fronta­tions between land­lords and ten­ants … read more

In the late nineties, city and vil­lage coun­cil elec­tions were held in Iran for the first time in 20 years. Under Prime Min­is­ter Khata­mi, decen­tral­iza­tion became a pri­or­i­ty. Among the … read more