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 WardaMohsen NamjooA 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.