Get your Iranian films here

A employee of a friend of mine asked me for a list of good, or at least interesting, Iranian movies. Happily, I obliged, assuming it’d be easy to conjure up such a list. The reason for him asking was a talk we had on the movie Persepolis which I think was enjoyable, but also fits the stereotypical image the west has of Iran.

Finding a nice collection of Iranian movies turned out to be harder than I thought. So here’s my own.

+ A House built on Water, about the clash between generations in Iran, where a son returns to Iran from abroad but also returns as a drug addict. Meanwhile, the movie also incorporates subtle gay themes.

+ Ten, about a woman taxi driver’s clients in Tehran. Though not too great as a movie, it nicely shows another side of Iran.

+ Children of Heaven, a bittersweet tale of a poor family in Tehran where the two kids somehow have to get back a pair of shoes one of them lost.

+ The Wind will Carry us, where an engineer from Tehran tries to deal with life in the provinces.

There’s a series of films I have in my collection, but still have to find the time to watch.

+ The Color of Paradise, about the relationship between a blind son and his father.

+ Baran, focussing on a relationship between a young Iranian boy and a young Afghan girl.

+ The Blackboard, about traveling Kurdish school teachers, moving around with blackboards on the backs of their bicycles.

But this is just my list. Why not try IMDB.

Related:  What one Khomeini buys you