Sufi, Saint & Swinger
The tragic story of an American music virtuoso who found in 1970s Iran the love and acceptance he never received back home, and who was punished by his country upon his return after the Iranian revolution.
In this guided tour of a unique Persian carpet, a close-up of the delicate "spine" of a tree branches out into the discovery of a fantastical world.
The tragic story of an American music virtuoso who found in 1970s Iran the love and acceptance he never received back home, and who was punished by his country upon his return after the Iranian revolution.
Iran is the only country in the region to recognise trans people (any other LGBQ+ identity is banned). Both Shervin and Samar offer a glimpse into what life is like for trans youth, who despite loving and supportive parents are forced to live covert lives, shy away from their neighbours and even consider emigration, in order to be who they truly are. One of the many heartrending scenes in this documentary features one of the boys, fully clothed on the beach and yearning to go swimming, while the other shouts at his parents, asking whether his father is also forced to wear a headscarf. This is Not Me is a detailed depiction of the legal and social labyrinth that promises a slim aperture of freedom.
What kind of world power is Iran becoming, and how will Western countries deal with it?
After getting caught in a fight, Vahid needs to sell one of his kidneys to avoid a prison sentence of many years. While waiting for the liberating call from a buyer, a wish for a better life starts to grow within him.
A documentary on the precarious lives of the koolbari, who carry goods on foot across the mountainous borders from Iran's northwestern Kurdish region.
The Iranian filmmaker Narges Kalhor, daughter of a former advisor of Ahmadinejad's, has been living in exile in Germany for four years. When she hears that the fellow Iranian rapper Shahin Najafi, who is also living in exile in Germany, faces death threats and has to hide because of one of his songs, she doesn't hesitate and has to find him. On her search she encounters fear everywhere. Narges Kalhor has to face her inconvenient memories of suppression, hatred and anger for her past in Iran.
The educational documentary film Music of Yarsan: A Living Tradition is an investigation into the variety of muscial practices in the life of the Kurdish Ahl-e Haqq people of the Guran region, in the Kermanshah province of Iran.
In 1979, after the Soviet Union attacked Afghanistan, millions of Afghans were forced to leave their homeland to save their lives, and in the meantime, a huge wave of them immigrated to Iran.
An investigation of government censorship in Iran.
The Last Days of Winter is an Iranian television documentary series directed and written by Mohammad Hossein Mahdavian, which aired on IRIB TV1 from 28 September to 6 December 2012 for 10 episodes.
Today, Iran's aggressive posture and rogue nuclear weapons program are straining the patience and nerve of the international community. With Iranian fighters, funds, and strategic weapons flooding into the Middle East, significant war appears inevitable. Meanwhile, something surprising is taking place inside this controversial country. Muslim-background Iranians are leading a quiet but mass exodus out of Islam and bowing their knees to the Jewish Messiah—with kindled affection toward the Jewish people. The Iranian awakening is a rapidly reproducing discipleship movement that owns no property, no buildings, has no budget, no 501c3 status, and is predominantly led by women. THIS IS THEIR STORY.
Nasrin; a wild rose, purged of its share of dry branches tries to flourish in Iran.
On stage since she was a toddler, Googoosh has been an icon of Iranian pop culture since the 1970s. Her progressive style and raw singing talent attracted worldwide acclaim and saw her performing alongside the likes of Tina Turner and Ray Charles. But the star's career came to an abrupt halt after the Islamic Revolution, which banned women from singing in public. Googoosh was placed under house arrest, where she remained for the next two decades. Niloufar Taghizadeh's documentary, which includes interviews with the charismatic singer (now in her seventies, but still performing and advocating for women and girls) and arresting archival footage, offers both a loving portrait of a national icon and a fascinating historical and cultural record of Iran.
As the United States and Iran are locked in a battle for power and influence across the Middle East—with the fear of an Iranian nuclear weapon looming in the background—FRONTLINE gains unprecedented access to Iranian hard-liners shaping government policy, including parliament leader Hamid Reza Hajibabaei, National Security Council member Mohammad Jafari and state newspaper editor Hossein Shariatmadari. In this report, FRONTLINE examines how U.S. efforts to install democracy in Iraq have served to strengthen Iran's position as an emerging power in the Middle East.
A playwright Iran tries to confront a creative crisis while political clashes erupt during her country's 2009 election.
After five years studying in Paris, Arash has not adjusted to life there and has decided to return to Iran to live. Hoping to change his mind, his two friends Hossein and Ashkan convince him to take a last trip through France.
The documentary, " Death and the Judge", revolves around Iran's most famous criminal judge, Azizmohammadi. He served as a criminal judge for 45 years and issued about 4500 death sentences; a record in not only Iran, but also the world. This documentary looks into his personal and professional life as he is followed within his home with his family, in the court of law, and in his retirement days. The ultimate purpose of the documentary is to deduce the role of death in the judge's life as he either takes life away from criminals or death comes to his loved ones. During his retirement, he is once again given the choice between the life and death of a person, despite no longer being a judge.
Nasim is a free climber, the only woman able to open new routes in Iran. She’s facing a double mountain to climb, both physical and cultural, as her passion collides with the strict policies concerning women freedom in her country. And she has a dream: open a new route in the Alps.
Iran, 2008. As President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's motorcade creeps through the teeming streets of Qom Shrine, thousands of people jam hand-written letters into the hands of his handlers. Hearing their President deliver a speech is a thrill, but more promising to these men and women is the hope that their letters - expressing pleas for loans, medical attention, housing and jobs - will be answered. Since his 2005 election on a populist, "man of the people" platform, Ahmadinejad has encouraged Iranians to send him such letters; according to a staff member, he has received about 10 million of them, and has been able to respond to nearly 76 percent. In one letter, a 16-year-old boy says his family has no money and goes to bed hungry every night. According to the staff member, the boy will be helped. As other letters are read, the worker says that "In Islam, charity is a necessity."
A documentary exploring the experience of going to war with a Military Working Dog, trained to find bombs before they can kill or maim soldiers, often at the expense of the dog's sanity.