Iranian film recommendations?

Personally, I have a lot of respect for their filmmaking. There’s just something about their style—that sense of tension and those subtle, unspoken moments that you rarely see in big-budget Hollywood movies. 😉

Baran
Children of Heaven
Osama

Children of Heaven is a stunning film. I noticed it’s scheduled to air on PBS next week, though I can't recall the exact day. It is easily the best Iranian cinema I have ever seen. I enjoyed Children of Heaven more than Children of Heaven.

Wait, is that the one about the kid who keeps running just to score some sneakers as a prize? I feel like I've seen clips of that movie pop up a few times, but I could never actually pin down the title.

placidorca22 said:Is that the movie about the boy running to win sneakers as a prize? I've seen clips of it a few times, but I could never catch the title.

Aha. I see. It's certainly heartwarming. That kid is just too precious.
+I also remembered another Iranian film; I think it's called Ten... anyway, it’s some kind of number. It was shown a year or two ago at that festival... who was there?

You really need to watch "Baran"... I'm still reeling from how much it left unsaid, yet felt so incredibly intense... I have nothing but respect for Iranian Cinema 🙏

ps. please hit me with some more recommendations for great Iranian films 👋

quietorca89 said:ps. please throw some more good Iranian film suggestions my way 👋

That Kiarostami close-up? Absolute masterpiece... honestly, pretty much everything he touches is. I'm talking Taste of Cherry, Ten, Wind Will Carry Us, Through the Olive Trees...

Then you've got Blackboards, The Apple, and At Five in the Afternoon by Samira Makhmalbaf...

And don't forget Circle, The White Balloon, and Crimson Gold from Jafar Panahi

Plus Kandahar and Gabbeh by Mohsen Makhmalbaf

Secret Ballot

The Cow

Thank you, thank you, thank you 🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏 👋

Richard Lee33 said:Paradise is a beautiful film. I saw it's going to be on PBS next week, but I forgot exactly which day..

You're wrong. It isn't on PBS; it's on ABC this Friday around 1:30 PM.

Richard Lee33 said:On the new one this Friday, around 1:30 PM.

I have to hand it to you for finding that slot.🙄

Paradise and The Song of Sparrows are absolute classics to me, but I’ll probably skip the rest since tracking down those specific titles feels like an impossible mission.
Maybe they'll run another series of Iranian films over at Central Park soon. 🙂
I missed the last run entirely.😢

I’m starting this thread because I just finished a trio of films by one of the world's heavyweights, the director and screenwriter Asghar Farhadi, and honestly? I'm floored. We're talking about Shah-re-ziba , About Elly , and Take Shelter . Well, actually, the latter two have picked up quite the haul of awards—Golden Bear wins and even an Oscar. I have to admit, I was pretty skeptical about Iranian cinema initially. I sort of expected that whole "critics' darling" vibe where everything is weighed down by heavy, grueling themes involving war or forced political correctness. But man, was I wrong. Sure, the themes can be heavy, but they feel incredibly real. There's none of that pretentious posturing or heavy-handed messaging. Farhadi just makes these incredible movies about regular people whose lives get flipped upside down by a tiny mishap, a string of bad luck, or just a single moment of distraction. He is a master of the plot twist. Plus, you pick up so much about the culture, the lifestyle, and how the legal system works over there. It's basically education and entertainment wrapped into one. What really fascinates me is his ability to craft three-dimensional characters; there aren't really any "heroes" or "villains"—you find yourself empathizing with everyone. If I had one gripe, though, it’s the endings. Or rather, the lack of a traditional resolution in Farhadi's films. They just... end. Still, I'm mostly pleasantly surprised. I haven't explored much other Iranian cinema yet, so if anyone has some solid recommendations, please drop them in this thread. 😁

Larry Sanders23 said:I’m starting this thread because I just finished a trio of films by one of the world's heavyweights, the director and screenwriter Asghar Farhadi, and honestly? I'm floored. We're talking about Shah-re-ziba , About Elly , and Take Shelter . Well, actually, the latter two have picked up quite the haul of awards—Golden Bear wins and even an Oscar. I have to admit, I was pretty skeptical about Iranian cinema initially. I sort of expected that whole "critics' darling" vibe where everything is weighed down by heavy, grueling themes involving war or forced political correctness. But man, was I wrong. Sure, the themes can be heavy, but they feel incredibly real. There's none of that pretentious posturing or heavy-handed messaging. Farhadi just makes these incredible movies about regular people whose lives get flipped upside down by a tiny mishap, a string of bad luck, or just a single moment of distraction. He is a master of the plot twist. Plus, you pick up so much about the culture, the lifestyle, and how the legal system works over there. It's basically education and entertainment wrapped into one. What really fascinates me is his ability to craft three-dimensional characters; there aren't really any "heroes" or "villains"—you find yourself empathizing with everyone. If I had one gripe, though, it’s the endings. Or rather, the lack of a traditional resolution in Farhadi's films. They just... end. Still, I'm mostly pleasantly surprised. I haven't explored much other Iranian cinema yet, so if anyone has some solid recommendations, please drop them in this thread. 😁

And you know, that was actually the part that felt most unbelievable to me in Take Shelter. That kind of shouting match in front of a judge, almost as if you were watching two random people arguing on a street corner without any sense of decorum or social norms. If that’s truly how their judicial system operates, I guess I can't help but feel a bit skeptical. Aside from that, they seem to produce some pretty solid films from what I've seen—though I haven't watched a whole lot—but honestly, that highly acclaimed Take Shelter didn't really grab my interest in any special way.

Take Shelter was excellent in every sense of the word, I suppose.
Lately, I’ve been watching The Color of Paradise , but no matter how hard I tried to enjoy it, it just wasn't happening. It isn't a bad film—far from it—but it is also quite far from being Take Shelter.

I just watched Take Shelter and honestly, I was blown away.🙏 It’s truly fascinating how much we all have in common—regardless of our faith or background.

Everyone is obsessing over Take Shelter 😁 Look, don't get me wrong, the movie is great, but there are plenty of other gems in Iranian Cinema.

A lot of people rave about Kiarostami. I haven't had much of a chance to dive deep into his filmography, unfortunately, but I did catch Taste of Cherry and found it pretty solid. It has this specific, slow-burn atmosphere...

Back in the day, The Children was also quite a big deal; I remember seeing it pop up on our local TV several times.

Recently, Panahi's Offside aired as well—another charming film.

And then there's Lakposhtha parvaz mikonand (an Iranian-Iraqi-French co-production)

There are just so many of them.

I actually fell head over heels for Iranian Cinema just by diving into a huge collection of Majid Majidi films. 😍

There are three in particular that I still hold so close to my heart:

The Color of Paradise

The Children

Crazy Father

I just find those heavy social dramas so beautiful—the way they often focus on children as the main characters, while layering in such complex insights into human psychology and society.

They have this specific vibe. It’s pretty similar to those gritty indie dramas we see back home, except instead of being comedies, they’re heavy on the drama.
I liked the radio part most. When the kid listens to the radio by basically retelling everything he hears.

Alexander Hernandez32 said:I actually fell head over heels for Iranian Cinema just by diving into a huge collection of Majid Majidi films. 😍

There are three in particular that I still hold so close to my heart:

The Color of Paradise

The Children

Crazy Father

I just find those heavy social dramas so beautiful—the way they often focus on children as the main characters, while layering in such complex insights into human psychology and society.

Honestly, I think Majidi's latest, "The Song of Sparrows," holds its own just as well as the others you mentioned. It’s definitely on that same level qualitatively.

Wait, there's this one movie called... The Willow Tree I actually thought Majidi directed this one, but it turns out the film was based on his idea and written by him, while Kamal Tabrizi is the one who actually called the shots behind the camera. Regardless, the movie is absolutely fantastic and I can't recommend it enough. To me, it sits right up there with all of Majidi's other masterpieces.

Even after all this time, I still find Kiarostami to be my absolute favorite when it comes to Iranian cinema—nothing else quite touches him.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120265/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1a

Of course, there are plenty of other incredible films out there—especially those gems from the 90s—but he just stays at the top for me.

For me, Still Life from 1974 is one of the absolute best. Beyond just Kiarostami and the rest of the Iranian Cinema crew, I honestly think it paved the way for this whole recent wave of "contemplative" movies—everything from Chinese cinema all the way through Europe. Fans of Italian Neorealism would probably dig it too.

I guess I was just sitting here thinking about how much my taste in cinema has shifted over the years, maybe because I've grown a bit more patient with slower pacing, or perhaps I just crave that specific kind of emotional resonance you only get from certain masters of the craft. It’s funny how you can spend your youth chasing high-octane thrills, only to find yourself later on deeply moved by a quiet, lingering shot in an American indie drama or a slow-burn masterpiece that doesn't feel the need to shout to be heard. I find myself drifting back to those films that linger in the mind like a half-remembered dream, much like how a certain Lynch film might haunt your thoughts for weeks after the credits roll. There's something almost spiritual about that level of storytelling, isn't there? I suppose I'm just in one of those reflective moods today. Marzieh Makhmalbaf He makes films that are definitely worth mentioning, mostly focusing his lens on critiques regarding extreme approaches to faith. First. I guess the film offers a pretty compelling look at how women navigate life within Islamic society—it’s almost like they’re living under these heavy, invisible chains, while... I guess I might have been a little too brief there, maybe even a bit abrupt, which probably wasn't my intention at all. I suppose I should have elaborated more on what I was thinking, but sometimes it's hard to find the right way to start a conversation without feeling like you're rushing things. I'll try to be more thorough next time, if that's alright. It feels like there’s much more social commentary involved this time, focusing on those two orphaned kids—just to stir up a bit of empathy, I suppose. But then again, if my memory serves me right, he still weaves in that critique of religion, since one of the main reasons they ended up in such a messed up situation was tied back to religious issues. I haven't actually sat down to watch his latest work yet, though.