Iranian Most Valuable Movies Part 5: International Movies
Almost no film on this list, is officially made in Iran, but they are considered to be Iranian movies as they are made by filmmakers of Iranian descent, yet they try to convey something cultural about Iran and are mostly in Persian language.
This can not be applied to every nationality, but the situation of Iran and Iranians may be an exception. Many artists had to flee their country after the Iranian revolution and they were scattered all over the globe. They preferred or were forced not to make their films inside their homeland.
So the films in this list may be American, British, German, French or other productions, but as mentioned, their message is about Iranian history and culture or the filmmakers’ role in it.
This can not be applied to every nationality, but the situation of Iran and Iranians may be an exception. Many artists had to flee their country after the Iranian revolution and they were scattered all over the globe. They preferred or were forced not to make their films inside their homeland.
So the films in this list may be American, British, German, French or other productions, but as mentioned, their message is about Iranian history and culture or the filmmakers’ role in it.
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- DirectorVincent ParonnaudMarjane SatrapiStarsChiara MastroianniCatherine DeneuveGena RowlandsA precocious and outspoken Iranian girl grows up during the Islamic Revolution.
- DirectorAli AbbasiStarsAlice RahimiDiana Al HussenSoraya HelliA journalist descends into the dark underbelly of the Iranian holy city of Mashhad as she investigates the serial killings of sex workers by the so called "Spider Killer", who believes he is cleansing the streets of sinners.
- DirectorBabak AnvariStarsNarges RashidiAvin ManshadiBobby NaderiAs a mother and daughter struggle to cope with the terrors of the post-revolution, war-torn Tehran of the 1980s, a mysterious evil begins to haunt their home.
- DirectorAna Lily AmirpourStarsSheila VandArash MarandiMarshall ManeshIn the Iranian ghost-town Bad City, a place that reeks of death and loneliness, the townspeople are unaware they are being stalked by a lonesome vampire.
- DirectorHassan NazerStarsMohammad Amir NajiParsa MaghamiMartine Malalai ZikriaIn a small provincial Iranian town, the children work hard to support their families. One day nine-year-old Yahya and his friend Leyla find a precious statue. Sharing a passion for cinema, Yahya's boss Naser Khan (Reza Naji) decides to help them find the owner.
- DirectorSadaf ForoughiStarsVahid AghapourParnian AkhtariSarah AlimardaniThe life of a high school girl in Iran becomes more complicated after her mother catches her in an act of rebellion.
- DirectorMilad AlamiStarsArdalan EsmailiSoho RezanejadLars BrygmannEsmail, a young Iranian man, is desperately looking for a woman who can secure his stay in Denmark. As time is running out, he falls in love and his past catches up with him.
- DirectorMohsen MakhmalbafStarsNelofer PaziraHassan TantaiIke OgutAfter an Afghanistan-born woman who lives in Canada receives a letter from her suicidal sister, she takes a perilous journey through Afghanistan to try to find her.
- DirectorReza AllamehzadehStarsShohreh AghdashlooMarshall ManeshMohsen MarzbanTale of a group of Iranian families, fleeing from Iran to Turkey in order to seek asylum from Turkey to some Western European country or USA. The movie shows the hardship and very sad days that millions of Iranian families have had experienced during 1980's outcome of the Iranian Revolution.
- DirectorAli SoozandehStarsJasmina AliHasan Ali MeteZar Amir EbrahimiIn their desperate search for freedom and happiness, four young people from Tehran, Iran are forced to break the taboos of a restrictive, islamic society.
- DirectorNoora NiasariStarsLeah PurcellZar Amir EbrahimiMojean AriaA young Iranian mother and her six-year-old daughter find refuge in an Australian women's shelter during the two weeks of the Iranian New Year (Nowruz).
- DirectorMaryam KeshavarzStarsLayla MohammadiNiousha NoorKamand ShafieisabetWhen a large Iranian-American family gathers, a family secret is uncovered that catapults the estranged mother and daughter into an exploration of the past, and to discover they are more alike than they know.
- DirectorHossein PourseifiStarsZar Amir EbrahimiKatrin RöverDamon ZolfaghariIran 1979. The true story of a young mother and her Iranian-born husband from the German Democratic Republic (GDR) who move to Iran with their little daughter in the wake of the Islamic Revolution. Driven by the desire to create a free and equal society, they fight against violence and religious doctrines in a country full of hopes and dreams, which gradually turns into a ruthless theocracy. In order to save their child they eventually have to make the biggest sacrifice imaginable.
- DirectorSoudabeh MoradianStarsMajid AmraiiAbbas HabibiAlireza MahmoudianDOOMSDAY MACHINE (Mashine Rooze Ghiamat) deals with the mentally disabled war veterans in one of the permanent sanatoriums in Tehran. One of the patients "Mahmood" is under the illusion that he has built a "doomsday machine" which can destroy the world by pressing a button.
- DirectorAbdolreza KahaniStarsAdrien MalekiAriane GangiArmand GangiIranian student Emad and a French girl Caroline have been living together for a few weeks in a borrowed flat in Besançon, where the girl has a job taking tourists round the Victor Hugo Museum. Both know that they have no future together, since Emad intends to return to Iran. The trouble starts when Caroline tells Emad that she is pregnant and he, somewhat thrown off balance, tries to persuade her to have an abortion. The girl isn't against the idea, but she keeps deferring. Over the next few days, during which the couple constantly argue then patch things up, something comes to light which sets their relationship on quite a different course.
- DirectorSoudabeh MoradianStarsAlicja BachledaBahram RadanCoby Ryan McLaughlinA psychologically traumatized war photographer is locked in a desperate struggle to protect her secrets and escape her inevitable return to the Middle East.
- DirectorMohsen MakhmalbafStarsTahmineh NormatovaNadereh AbdelahyevaGoibibi ZiadolahyevaEvery day, 10-year-old Khorsid takes the bus to his work at an instrument maker's shop, and every day something unexpected happens.
- DirectorKiarash AnvariStarsMahvash AfsharpanahSadaf ForoughiMahan KhorshidiAfter finding out that he has no sperm and can't impregnate his wife, an Iranian man suffers an existential crisis.
- DirectorBabak JalaliStarsLars UlrichBella WardaLarry LavertyA brilliant and misunderstood Iranian writer struggles to pursue his ambitious goal of bringing together Metallica and Kabul Dreams, Afghanistan's first rock band.
- DirectorZar Amir EbrahimiGuy NattivStarsArienne MandiZar Amir EbrahimiJaime Ray NewmanIranian female judoka Leila and her coach Maryam, who travel to the Judo World Championship, intent on bringing home Iran's first gold medal. Midway through the competition, they receive an ultimatum from the Islamic Republic ordering Leila to fake an injury and lose. With her own and her family's freedom at stake, Leila is faced with an impossible choice: feign injury and comply with the Iranian regime as Maryam implores her to do, or defy them both and fight on, for the gold.
- DirectorFaran MoradiStarsSammy AzeroMo ZeighamiNavid NegahbanEnemies to Lovers story of a Canadian-Iranian girl and Iranian-Canadian boy.
- DirectorGranaz MoussaviStarsMarzieh VafamehrAmir CheginiAsha MehrabiMarzieh is a young female actress living in Tehran. The authorities ban her theatre work and, like all young people in Iran, she is forced to lead a secret life in order to express herself artistically. At an underground rave, she meets Iranian born Saman, now an Australian citizen, who offers her a way out of her country and the possibility of living without fear.
- DirectorRamin SerryStarsMariam ParrisDavid AckertShaun ToubAn Iranian-born teenager living in suburban New Jersey thinks of herself as simply an American until anti-Iranian sentiment erupts in her community after American hostages are held in Iran.
- DirectorSam KhozeStarsMichelle FarivarJessica HendricksonBobak BakhtiariThree women struggle in their social and cultural environments and face unforeseeable crises. Based on true events.
- DirectorBabak JalaliStarsKhajeh Araz DordiMahmoud KaltehAbolfazl KarimiIn this debut feature written and directed by Iranian born Babak Jalali, Frontier Blues features 4 intertwined stories all set in Irans northern frontier with Turkmenistan, a region that has long been neglected in Iranian cinema, interesting not only for its magnificent, forlorn landscape but also for its multi-ethnic population of Persians, Turkmens and Kazakhs. Featuring non-professional actors from the northern region of Iran, Jalalis film looks at fragments of the everyday existence of a varied collection of characters from the region.
- DirectorCyrus NowrastehStarsShohreh AghdashlooJim CaviezelMozhan NavabiA story told by Zahra to a French journalist of her niece Soraya Manutchehri, a 35-year-old married woman, who received capital punishment and stoned to death because of false accusations in the remote village of Kuhpayeh, Iran, in 1986.
- DirectorNader T. HomayounStarsAli AbdaliSara BahramiFarzin MohadesIbrahim left his family to try his luck in Tehran. But in this asphalt jungle where everything can be bought and sold a dream can easily become a nightmare. Involved into the traffic of new-born children, Ibrahim plunges into the city seedy areas, in Tehroun. This film noir gives a caustic portrait of modern Iran.
- DirectorYuval DelshadStarsNavid NegahbanAsher AvrahamiDavid DiaanThe son of a family of Iranian farmers in Israel rebels against his strong-willed father.
- DirectorAli Samadi AhadiStarsNavid NavidAnna BögerMichael NiavaraniTo save the family's butchery from insolvency smallish, sensitive Mohsen heads to Poland to buy low-priced sheep. On his way he lands somewhere in the middle of nowhere in Eastern Germany and falls in love with former shot-putter Ana. The villagers assume Mohsen to be a scion of a Persian textile dynasty who may save the village. Mohsen becomes more and more en vogue until his father appears.
- DirectorDaryush ShokofStarsHossein DaryaniMahnaz TalebitariHasan DemirciYoung Islamic woman whose brother is tortured to death during the Iranian elections goes to Berlin to fulfill two promises made to her brother on his deathbed.
- DirectorMaryam KeshavarzStarsSarah KazemyNikohl BoosheriReza Sixo SafaiA wealthy Iranian family struggles to contain a teenager's growing sexual rebellion and her brother's dangerous obsession.
- DirectorParviz SayyadStarsParviz SayyadMary ApickHoushang TouzieAn Iranian assassin is sent to the United States to kill a former Iranian official who served under the Shah of Iran. The night before the assassination he find out that his target (Mr. Tabataie) has already been killed by a Muslim American Hassan Tantai (aka David Theodore Belfield). A prominent mullah residing in the U.S. find him a new assassination target.
- DirectorDaryush ShokofStarsDaryush ShokofMahnaz TalebitariHossein DaryaniPortrays the situation of Iranian political prisoners under the Islamic Republic Regime of Iran.
- DirectorSam KhozeStarsAli AfsharEstrella NouriDavid GolshanA hard-working Middle Eastern man learns the bitter truth about what it means to be an American citizen as a foreigner.
- DirectorKourosh AhariStarsShahab HosseiniNiousha NoorLeah OganyanAn Iranian couple living in the US become trapped inside a hotel when insidious events force them to face the secrets that have come between them, in a night that never ends.
- DirectorNacer KhemirStarsParviz ShahinkhouMaryam HamidGolshifteh FarahaniThe story of a blind dervish Bab'Aziz and his spirited granddaughter, Ishtar, together they wander the desert in search of a great reunion of dervishes that takes place just once every thirty years.
- DirectorSusan TaslimiStarsMelinda KinnamanHassan BrijanyCaroline RaufMinoo returns to her family in Sweden to attend her sister Gita's wedding. Her mother and father believe that she has disgraced the family having worked as a stripper.
- DirectorBabak ShokrianStarsMantha BalourdouBahar BarkziVenna Bidasha-kaurAt 40, the road less traveled is narrowing for Bob who struggles to write his next screenplay while dealing with eccentric tenants, unclogging drains and collecting rents, for his father's real estate business. But when his father falls ill, Bob decides to change and embrace the legacy of his family and culture for the first time. He even finds himself falling in love with a Jewish Iranian 'princess' from the community. But can he really change?
- DirectorSepideh FarsiStarsJavad DjavaheryDarya Djavahery-FarsiBabak FarahaniTehran. June 2009. The uproar of a city swinging with the "Green Wave" of protest to the rigged presidential election. An apartment as a shelter. A man and a woman who belong to two different generations. A mobile phone and a computer to communicate with the free world. A love story, that will change two lives.
- DirectorShirin NeshatShoja AzariStarsShabnam TolouiPegah FerydoniArita ShahrzadAgainst the tumultuous backdrop of Iran's 1953 CIA-backed coup d'état, the destinies of four women converge in a beautiful orchard garden, where they find independence, solace and companionship.
- DirectorArash T. RiahiStarsNavid NavidPourya MahyariElika BozorgiCenters on a group of weary Middle Eastern refugees who have made their way to Turkey to apply for European visas.
- DirectorSohrab Shahid SalessStarsParviz SayyadCihan AnasaiMuhammet TemizkanThis drama explores the grim lives of Turkish "guest workers" living in Germany.
- DirectorKamshad KooshanStarsShohreh AghdashlooKian AbediniLauren Parissa AbediniSurviving Paradise follows the adventures of 10-year-old Sam and 8-year-old Sara, Iranian children lost in Los Angeles, as they struggle to search for an uncle and elude the hit man who kidnapped their mother. On their way, they encounter a colorful cast of character and dangerous situations, but through connections they endure the rigors of life on the street.
- DirectorShirin NeshatShoja AzariStarsNeda RahmanianYasmin RaeisMehdi MoinzadehA film within a film, "Looking for Oum Kulthum" is the plight of an Iranian woman artist/filmmaker living in exile, as she embarks on capturing the life and art of the legendary female singer of the Arab world, Oum Kulthum. Through her difficult journey, not unlike her heroine's, she must face the struggles and sacrifices, and the price that a woman must pay if she dares to cross the lines of a conservative male-dominated society.
- DirectorKayvan MashayekhStarsAdam EchahlyBruno LastraMoritz BleibtreuKamran is a 12-year-old boy in the present day who discovers that his ancestor is 11th-century mathematician, astronomer, and poet of Persia Omar Khayyam. The story has been passed down in his family from one generation to another, and now it is his responsibility to keep the story alive for future generations. The film takes us from the modern day to the epic past where the mutual love for a beautiful woman separates Omar Khayyam and Hassan Sabbah (the original creator of the sect of Assassins) from their eternal bond of friendship. Filmed almost entirely on location in Samarkand and Bukhara, Uzbekistan.
- DirectorKaweh ModiriStarsJasmin TabatabaiMohsen NamjooShabnam Toloui37 years after her daughter was executed in Iran, Haleh finds the woman who betrayed her. The traitor, now a loving mother herself and just arrived in the Netherlands, does not recognize Haleh and trusts her as an older and wiser countryman. While Haleh is plotting her revenge, she gets to know the perpetrator better than she would like to.
- DirectorAbdolreza KahaniStarsAryan AbbasniaGhazal PartouSadaf ShakoriThe director of the Iranian internet censorship is trying to contain the scandal of viral sex footage on social media depicting his sister-in-law's alleged lesbian affair with an Iranian-Canadian girl.
- DirectorMaryam ZahirimehrStarsAlireza AminataeeFarhad MesbahFarkhondeh RavaThe simple question: "How does a woman get pregnant?" forever shatters the childhood of a preteen girl entering into an innocent love triangle.
- DirectorRoy SartipiStarsShahryar RumiWilma EllesMilad DylanFereydoun Farrokhzad was an iconic figure who captured the heart and soul of millions worldwide. We take great care and pride in telling his story to those who knew him, and to those who will come to know him.
- DirectorHossein KeshavarzStarsSara EsfahaniTahereh AzadiShahrokh TaslimiIntertwines the lives of six young Iranians as they struggle to satisfy their private desires in the face of conservative Islamic society.
- DirectorNaghmeh ShirkhanStarsMatt DeaneSam MotazediTara NazemiA story that drifts between the lives of five generations of mothers and daughters, 'The Neighbor' takes its audience on an unexpected journey. At the center is a the story of Shirin, a dancer with unfulfilled dreams, and her fateful connection with her next door neighbor, Leila, a young woman with a small secret. Shirin struggles to come to terms with her estranged mother as Leila struggles to reconcile present life circumstances with her yearnings for a better future.
- DirectorRamin Goudarzi NejadMahshad AfsharStarsMahshad AfsharAla AmirshahiKiana FirouzKiana, an Iranian lesbian who had left Iran to avoid getting arrested, tries to start a new life in the UK, but her application is turned down by the Home office. She has nowhere to run, nowhere to hide.
- DirectorMaryam PirbandStarsGohar KheirandishRudy YoungbloodSayed BadreyaDefiant young female director Hanna seems to be forced into an arranged marriage in America. Arranging anything for this talented, head-strong woman was their first mistake.
- DirectorShila OmmiStarsAzar AzarpiraDarya EllisHedyeh FalsafiA psychological drama, following the story of an Iranian-American woman asleep to all of her power and potential, until she receives an invitation that wakes her up from cultural trappings and 'curses,' and allows her to come into her power and to finally start living.
- DirectorLilinaz HakimiStarsLilinaz HakimiAnna KasunAnahita MonfaredMahnaz feels isolated and powerless watching from abroad as her home country of Iran explodes into Revolution. When she crosses paths with Roshan, an elusive figure who reminds her of home, an intimate but ephemeral friendship develops.
- DirectorSaba RiaziStarsSaba RiaziMaryam, a 30 year old woman in Tehran, having lost her job and apartment, is forced to move in with her grandmother. She is trying hard to make things work and in doing so, she faces herself, eating ice-cream. This funny, semi-autobiographical film seamlessly combines animation and live action into a poetic meditation about identity and belonging.
- DirectorMostafa GhorbanpourStarsFarshad HashemiMaryam Sajjadi
- DirectorFaraz ShariatStarsBenjamin RadjaipourBanafshe HourmazdiEidin JalaliSecond-generation Irani-German Parvis works at a refugee shelter where he meets brother and sister Irani refugees and develops a tenuous romance with Amon as his friends attempt refugee status.