A Controversial Birthday

The Guest

February 2008 •Persian

A young taxi driver who is a happy man encounters lots of different stories through his daily life. One day, he is driving a young American woman and he enters an unusual and protracted adventure which he should follow to the end. The American woman has lost the address she is going to refer and it is almost impossible to reach her relatives. The young driver believes that he should help the woman until she finds her relatives and this issue causes many problems between him and his fiancee. He also has other problems regarding the American woman and his unusual friend.

Terrestrial Verses

October 2023 •Persian

A satirical take on the mundane absurdities of life in modern-day Iran, these nine vignettes illuminate the lighter side of enduring under authoritarian rule. Whether choosing a name for a newborn, graduating from grade school, getting a driver’s license, applying for a job, or seeking approval for a film script, if you live in Iran, you best come fluent in Orwellian discourse. Progressing along a rough timeline from birth to death, each story is shot in a static camera angle as a single petitioner negotiates with an authority figure hovering just outside of frame, who is practiced in the language of doublespeak.

Poverty

January 2009 •Persian

A haughty acclaimed newly married fashion designer named Iraj is shown the door by his boss after the boss's son arrives at Iran to take over his father's company. Iraj reluctant to promulgate the loss of his job, starts using his savings, trying to conceal the truth from his naive wife. Having squandered all the money he had on trivial matters, he tells his wife about being axed & that's when the tables turn on him.

The New Country

November 2000 •Swedish

A 15-year-old Somalian boy meets a 40-year-old Iranian man in a refugee camp in Skåne, in the south of Sweden. With the threat of deportation hanging over them, they decide to take their faiths in their own hands and together they go on a journey in the Swedish summer.

Havoo

January 2006 •Persian

Special Line

March 2014 •Persian

A hacker group empty a bank account of a big strong person. The story goes on and now they must pay for that.

Men at Work

January 2006 •Persian

A political allegory on four middle-class guys who pile into their car for a ski weekend. A brief stop at a picturesque vista leads to their chance discovery of a prominent rock formation it seems would be oh so easy to tip over, but...

Secret Ballot

September 2001 •Persian

A female election agent and a gun-toting soldier try to collect votes among the local islanders with mixed success.

Oxidan

January 2018 •English

Aslan's fiance Negar is going abroad the country illegally and without informing him at all. Now he is after a way to get a visa and go gets her back.

America

May 2018 •Persian

An Iranian journalist couple wants to move to America to escape the difficulties of their country. The woman receives her visa but her husband doesn't. He stays in Iran and watches his wife find success on television and falls into a state of depression.

Submission

November 2016 •Bosnian

Three friends are hanging out on the roof in Sarajevo. Their hangout is interrupted by the Yugoslavian time traveler who explains them that they are in danger and need to use the time machine to go back to Yugoslavia and warn people that the future generations messed up. They travel back in time to find themselves not in Yugoslavia, but in Iran. Clash of the cultures is evident, and they are forced to hide their identity. But the more they discover the city, the more they realize it is scarily similar to their own.

Universal Language

December 2024 •French

Winter. Somewhere between Tehran and Winnipeg. Negin and Nazgol find a sum of money frozen deep within the sidewalk ice and try to find a way to get it out. Massoud leads a group of befuddled tourists upon an increasingly-strange walking tour of Winnipeg historic sites. Matthew leaves his job at the Québec government and embarks upon a mysterious journey to visit his estranged mother.

The Lizard

February 2004 •Persian

The satirical commentary on clergymen in post-revolutionary Iran. While in prison, petty criminal Reza (Parviz Parastui) comes across a clergyman, sparking a plan for escape. Reza dons his new acquaintance's clerical robes and makes a bid for freedom. He soon learns that being a clergyman brings little respect from the public. Reza travels to the outlying villages, from where he plots to escape the country. However, his plans must be put on hold when the villagers accept him into their community and expect him to perform religious duties. Will Reza's prison break transform him into an unlikely pillar of the community?

1st Born

February 2019 •English

Tucker and Hamid are going to be grandfathers for the first time, but only if they can come together long enough to save their first-born grandchild.

5 in the Afternoon

July 2017 •Persian

The film follows the story of a man in Tehran, from 7 am to 5 pm, when he must do a job because it is his last chance.

Taxi

April 2015 •Persian

A yellow cab is driving through the vibrant and colourful streets of Tehran. Very diverse passengers enter the taxi, each candidly expressing their views while being interviewed by the driver who is no one else but the director Jafar Panahi himself. His camera placed on the dashboard of his mobile film studio captures the spirit of Iranian society through this comedic and dramatic drive…

Copsi

May 2015 •Persian

A young couple have problems in their marriage.

Modest Reception

January 2013 •Persian

An Iranian couple from the city drive around a remote mountainous region. They hand out bags of money to poor villagers in return for them carrying out unusual requests the couple make of them.

Saint Petersburg

October 2010 •Persian

A newly released prisoner and an ostensibly rich youth become aware of the place of Tsar's long lost treasure by a twist of fate.

Deportees

March 2007 •Persian

The movie is the story of a gang of men who decide to participate in Iran-Iraq war, also known as First Gulf War, which lasted from September 1980 to August 1988. the main character, Suzuki, who is there to satisfy his beloved's father that he is worthy of marrying his daughter, goes through some moving experiences in the war and his character changes to a level that he even tries to sacrifice himself to save the others in the war. the Movie ends by his martyrdom.