Iranian Documentary Films

At the School of Seyed Ghelish Ishan
(DAR MADRESEH YE SEYED GHELISH ISHAN )

Farshad Fadaiyan
Iran 1996 | 22 Min. | 16 mm, OmeU
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

Bab-e Jenn
(BAD-E JENN )

Nasser Taghvaie
Iran 1969 | 21 Min. | 16 mm, OF
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

Fellow Citizen
(Hamshahri)

Abbas Kiarostami
Iran | 16 mm, OmeU
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

Mokarrameh, Memories and Dreams
(MOKARRAMEH, KHATERAT VA ROYAHA)

Ebrahim Mokhtari
France, Iran 1999 | 48 Min. | BetaSP, OmeU
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 … read more

My Mothers House, the Lagoon
(KHANEYEH MADARIYAM, MORDAB )

Mehrdad Hosseini Oskouei
Iran 1999 | 32 Min. | BetaSP, OmeU
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

Oh Protector of the Gazelle
(YA ZAMANE AHU)

Parviz Kimiavi
Iran 1970 | 19 Min. | 16 mm, OF
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
(NAGHASHI KON)

Maziar Bahari
Iran 1999 | 25 Min. | BetaSP, OmeU
»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

The Ferry
(DUBEE)

Morteza Pursamadi
Iran | 16 mm, OF
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

The Night it Rained
(AN SHAB KE BARUN AMAD )

Kamran Shirdel
Iran 1967-79 | 35 Min. | 35 mm, OmfU

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 coat. A film crew is sent to make an epic film based about this inci­dent. But whilst the rail­way author­i­ties com­plete­ly deny the boy’s exis­tence, the Gov­er­nor Gen­er­al recog­nis­es him as a hero. In the mean­time, dozens of heroes come for­ward, each claim­ing to have saved the day. 

»Shird­el paints a bit­ter­sweet pic­ture of Iran­ian Soci­ety in which truth, rumour, and lies can no longer be distinguished.« 

Robert Richter

The Song of Nimevar
(SORUDE DASHTE NIMEVAR )

Mohammad Reza Moghadassian
Iran 1988 | 42 Min. | 16 mm, OmeU
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

The Tenants
(EJAREH NESHINI)

Ebrahim Mokhtari
Iran 1982 | 49 Min. | 16 mm, OmeU
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

Zinat, One Special Day
(ZINAT, YEK RUZE BEKHOSUS )

Ebrahim Mokhtari
Iran 2000 | 56 Min. | BetaSP, OmeU
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