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åAfsåaåid = Offside. 2007. 1 videodisc (92 min.). During the 2006 Iran-Bahrain match, the Tehran soccer stadium roars with 100,000 cheering men and, officially, no women. According to Islamic custom, women are not permitted to watch or participate in men's sports. Many of the ambitious young female fans who manage to sneak into the arena are caught and sent to a holding pen, guarded by male soldiers their own age. Duty makes these young men and women adversaries, but duty can't overcome their shared dreams, their mutual attraction, and ultimately their overriding sense of national pride and humanity. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 3759
Bacheha-Ye aseman = Children of heaven. 1997 1 videodisc (88 min.). A young boy, Ali, loses his sister Zahra's school shoes. In order to stay out of trouble, the two come up with a plan to share Ali's shoes, but they must keep it a secret from their parents. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 676
Bashu gharibah-yi kuchak = Bashu : the little stranger. 98? 1 videodisc (115 min.). A tale of a young boy orphaned by the Iran-Iraq War who flees to a region far away from the battle fronts, and there starts anew. Bashu offers universal messages about racial tolerance and the strength of the family. DVD 42
Café Transit = Border Cafe. 2007. 1 videodisc (105 min.). When an Iranian widow takes over her husband's truck stop restaurant after his death, she must hide in the kitchen so she doesn't cause a scandal. Now her brother-in-law wants to be with her for the cafe, while a customer just wants to be with her. DVD 4155
Chahar shanbah suri = Fireworks Wednesday. 2008. 1 videodisc (104 min.). All of Tehran is preparing to celebrate the traditional New Year with the festival of fire, which falls on the last Tuesday night before the official New Year begins. A young woman named Rouhi is employed by a young couple to clean their house. Sweet and naive, Rouhi is engaged to be married, but her innocence is shattered when she finds her employers' household in crisis over accusations of infidelity. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 9135
Chicken with plums. 2013. 1 videodisc (ca. 91 min.). Nasser-Ali Khan appears to care more about his career than his family, but there is more to him than just the surface. After his beloved violin breaks, he sets out to replace it with his son's help. But when he cannot replace the instrument, he decides that the only solution to his sorrow is death. As he lies in bed waiting to die, his wife provides him with delicacies, such as chicken and plums, to help him find a reason to live again. Along the way, the family explores life with a view of beauty and humor. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 11035
Close-up = Nema-ye Nazdik. 1990. 2 videodiscs (98 min.). Close-Up is the true story of Hossain Sabzian, a poor, underemployed, divorced, father of two. He is obsessed with the cinema. In 1989, Sabzian convinced the Ahankhah family that he was Iranian filmmaker Moshen Makhmalbaf (The Silence) and that he would cast them in his next film. Eventually, the family caught on to the ruse and contacted the authorities, leading to Sabzian's arrest. A journalist wrote a column about the incident that Kiarostami read. The director quickly put together a crew and set about to film the trial as well as restage previous events, but with a twist: Sabzian, the Ahankhahs, and the others involved played themselves. Thus, the film is an amalgamation of documentary and drama that questions the very nature and purpose of film, forces audiences to contemplate the basic experience of moviegoing, and in the process redefined how Iranian cinema saw itself. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 1344
The color of paradise. 1999. 1 videodisc (ca. 90 min.). Mohammad joyfully returns to his tiny village on summer vacation from the Institute for the Blind, unaware of his father's intentions to disown him. Engaged to be married, the widowed man has kept Mohammad a secret from his fiancee, certain the boy's disability will destroy his only chance for happiness. With the wedding swiftly approaching Mohammad's future hangs precariously in the balance as his father struggles against his destiny, unable to see the wonder of life and love that's so clear to his son.
HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 670
The cow = Gaav. 1969. 1 videodisc (ca. 100 min.). In a small village in Iran, Hassan cherishes his cow more than anything in the world. While he is away, the cow mysteriously dies, and the villagers protectively try to convince Hassan the cow has wandered off. Grief stricken, Hassan begins to believe he is his own beloved bovine. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 1430
Dame sobh = Day break. 2006. 1 videodisc (85 min.). Day break: "Based on a compilation of true stories and shot inside Tehran's century-old prison, revolving around the imminent execution of Mansour, a man found guilty of murder. When the family of the victim repeatedly fails to show up on the appointed day, Mansour's execution is postponed again and again" -- Container. Dumb angel: "Features sensational 17-year old rock drummer Anders Erickson in a strange, acute, hyper-reality where the unfaltering magic of cinema happens right before the camera's eye. DVD 8379
Dar barih Illi = About Elly. 2009. 1 videodisc (90 min.). With the return of their friend Ahmad from Germany, a group of old college pals (two married couples and a brother and sister, along with three young kids) decide to reunite for a weekend outing by the Caspian Sea. The fun starts right away as they quickly catch on to the plan of lively Sepideh, who has brought along Elly, her daughter's kindergarten teacher, in hopes of setting her up with recently divorced Ahmad. But seemingly trivial lies, which start accumulating from the moment the group arrives at the seashore, suddenly swing round and come back full force when Elly disappears in a troubling incident. DVD 9516
Dayereh = The circle. 2001. 1 videodisc (87 min.). This film offers insights into the lives of women in Iran. As the narrative dynamically shifts from woman to woman, their stories culminate with tremendous potency, transforming a shared sense of dispair and injustice into one of kinship and even hope. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 715
Divorce Iranian style. 1998. 1 videodisc (80 min.). Looks inside an Iranian divorce court and shows how women are treated under Islamic law. DVD 6555
Five: 5 long takes dedicated to Yasujiro Ozu. 2007. The KimStim collection: KimStim collection. 1 videodisc (74 min.). "Acclaimed Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami (A taste of cherry, Through the olive trees) pays homage to Yasujiro Ozu, the brilliant Japanese filmmaker whose spare but evocative style has been a major influence on Kiarostami's work. Canny and sublime, the 74-minute film is comprised of five long, apparently single takes of a beach on the Caspian Sea, all focusing on the ocean, comprised of virtually no camera movement and enveloped in rapturous natural sound. Richly poetic and shot on a hand-held DV camera, the film features five extended, apparently single-take sequences. One. The camera accompanies a piece of wood with which the waves are toying at the beach. Two. People are walking along by the seaside. Older people stop, look at the waves, then walk away. Three. Indistinct shapes on a beach in winter. A group of dogs. A love story. Four. Ducks noisily cross the frame in one direction, then the other. Five. A pond; nighttime; frogs; a chorus of sounds, then a storm, and finally dawn."--Container. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 10290
Fremde Haut = Unveiled. 2006. 1 videodisc (97 min.). Persecuted in Iran because of her love for another woman, Fariba assumes the identity of a man to gain temporary asylum in Germany. She becomes close with fellow worker Anne only to face danger again when told she must return to Iran. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 6836
Gabbeh. 1996. 1 videodisc (75 min.). "A folkloric carpet (Gabbeh), picturing a man and a woman riding away on horseback, is the prized possession of an elderly nomadic couple. When they ... wash it ..., a beautiful young woman ... emerges from the carpet to ... reveal the secret of the carpet. Once held hostage by the endless restraints of the family that fashioned the carpet, she reveals that the secret...lies within the mysterious black-clad rider on the white horse. Month after month, season after season, he had followed her family from afar, always present, always waiting, howling to her songs of love--longing for her to run away with him."--Container. DVD 1614
Jodái-e Náder az Simin = A separation. 2011. 1 videodisc (ca. 123 min.). A married couple are faced with a difficult decision - to improve the life of their child by moving to another country or to stay in Iran and look after a deteriorating parent who has Alzheimer's disease. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 10336
Kasi az gurbi hay Iruni khabar nadarad = No one knows about Persian cats. 2009. 1 videodisc (107 min.). Follows a pair of young musicians, recently released from prison, on a mission to take their rock band to Europe. Forbidden by the authorities to play in Iran, they plan their escape abroad with a fast-talking music promoter. Vowing to play one last show before leaving Tehran, their dangerous mission takes them on a free-wheeling journey through the city's vibrant and diverse underground scene, home to an estimated 2,000 illegal independent bands. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 3564
Keshtzar haye sepid = The white meadows. 2009. Global lens collection: Global lens collection. 1 videodisc (93 min.). Rahmat the boatman navigates the increasingly brackish waters of a coastal land, collecting the heartaches and tears of its inhabitants. But he remains powerless against their misguided attempts to appease the gods and make the land green again, whether by offering a bride to the sea or forcibly "treating" the eyes of a painter who sees in different colors. Drawing firsthand on the challenges faced by Iranian artists of today, writer-director Mohammad Rasoulof's deeply atmospheric and poetical film is a gorgeous allegory of intolerance, brutality and mystified routine that resonates far beyond any one state's borders. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 6358
The Koker trilogy: Three films by Abbas Kiarostami. 2019. "Abbas Kiarostami first came to international attention for his wondrous, slyly self-referential trilogy of films set in the rural northern-Iranian town of Koker. Poised delicately between fiction and documentary, comedy and tragedy, the lyrical fables in 'The Koker trilogy' exemplify both the gentle humanism and playful sleight of hand that define the director's sensibility."-- Container.
"Where is the friend's house?": A boy searches for the home of his classmate, whose school notebook he has accidentally taken--and transforms it into a miraculous child's-eye adventure of the everyday
"And life goes on": In the aftermath of the 1990 earthquake in Iran that left fifty thousand dead, Abbas Kiarostami returned to Koker, where his camera surveys not only devastation but also the teeming life in its wake. Blending fiction and reality into a playful, poignant road movie, the film follows a film director who, along with his son, makes the trek to the region in hopes of finding out if the young boys who acted in "Where is the friend's house?" are among the survivors, and discovers a resilient community pressing on in the face of tragedy.
"Through the olive trees": A depiction of the off-screen relationship between the actors who play the newlyweds in the film "And life goes on." Unfolding behind the scenes, this film traces the complications that arise when the romantic misfortune of one of the actors--a young man who pines for the woman cast as his wife, even though, in real life, she will have nothing to do with him--creates turmoil on set and leaves the hapless director caught in the middle. DVD 16864
Leila.1997 1 videodisc (129 min.). "Reza and Leila, an attractive and affluent young couple deeply in love and recently married, discover that Leila is unable to conceive. Although Reza steadfastly insists that it matters not in the least, his mother feels otherwise: she is determined that her son have children and continue the family line. Invoking traditions, she convinces her daughter-in-law that Reza must, out of necessity, take a second wife to produce an heir."--Container. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 702 and Streaming video.
Marmulak = Lizard. 2004. 1 videodisc (117 min.). This is a tale of a thief, who in his quest to escape from prison, discovers that the action of a man is important and not his garb, and even a thief can inspire people to do good for their fellow man. DVD 4100
Marooned in Iraq. 2003. 1 videodisc (100 min.). During the Iran-Iraq war, an aging Iranian-Kurd musician hears that his wife, a singer with a magical voice, who deserted him for his best friend and fled to Iraq, is in trouble. He cons his two sons into accompanying him on the search and they embark on an adventure filled with music, romance and danger. DVD 751
Moment of innocence = Nåun va-guldåun. 1996. 1 videodisc (75 min.). "At age 17, while a member of an anti-Shah militant group, Makhmalbaf attacked a policeman in an attempt to steal his gun. He stabbed the officer with a knife and took a bullet in return. The policeman went to the hospital; Makhmalbaf went to a torture chamber hosted by the dreaded SAVAK secret police. He stayed there until the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Twenty years later, the filmmaker placed an ad in the paper to recruit actors for Salaam Cinema. The same wounded officer responded to the ad."--Www. IranianMovies. com. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 1431
Mourning = Soog. 2011. 1 streaming video file (84 min.). A violent quarrel breaks out between a couple at midnight. Being at a relative's house in the north of Iran, they depart for Tehran in the middle of the night, but they do not bring along their son. Something terrible happens on their way. DVD 11061
Niwemang = Half moon. 2006. 1 videodisc (107 min.). Mamo is an iconic Kurdish musician in the twilight of his life and failing health, must lead a dozen of his sons to Iraq for a concert to celebrate the fall of Saddam Hussein and the end of his repression of Kurdish music. Their plan is to drive across the border between Iranian and Iraqi Kurdistan, but the road will be long and winding and the local wise man has predicted calamity. The men will encounter the most sublime visions alongside the most horrendous brutality. First they must pick up Hesho, Mamo's exiled singer and muse. Her voice represents a divine, transformative power, and Mamo is left in a state of grace no one could ever have anticipated HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 4407
Persepolis. 2008. 1 videodisc (95 min.). In 1970s Iran, Marjane 'Marji' Statrapi watches events through her young eyes and her idealistic family. Their long dream is realized when the hated Shah is defeated in the Iranian Revolution of 1979. Now ruled by Islamic fundamentalists, Marji grows up to witnesses first hand how the new Iran has become a repressive tyranny on its own. With Marji dangerously refusing to remain silent at this injustice, her parents send her abroad to Vienna to study. This change proves an equally difficult trial for Marji and finds herself in a different culture loaded with abrasive characters and profound disappointments that deeply trouble her. Even when she returns home, Marji finds that both she and her homeland have changed too much and the young woman and her loving family must decide where she truly belongs. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 4498 and BLU 4498
Roozi keh zan shodam = The day I became a woman. 2000. 1 videodisc (78 min.). Three portraits of women at three stages of life in Iran, including a nine-year-old girl told she can no longer play with boys because she is now a "woman", a young woman who enters a bicycle race against her husband's wishes, and an old woman who gains money and the freedom to do what she wishes with it. Special features include text of the director's statement, interview, and filmography. DVD 3670
An seh = Those three. 2007. Global lens collection: Global lens collection. 1 videodisc (94 min.). Just one day from completing their military training, three conscripts desert their camp and escape into the frozen wilderness of Northern Iran. Travel through this mountainous, snowbound region is dangerous, but "those three" opt for the independence it promises and must now forge their way through an uncertain landscape, with only friendship to see them through. In this austere and mesmerizing debut feature, director Naghi Nemati's attention to the minutiae of human relationships is a quiet and deliberate meditation on the value of responsibility, connection and sacrifice. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 8670
Ta'm e guilass = Taste of cherry. 1997. 1 videodisc (95 min.). Mr. Badii, ceaselessly driving through the red-brown hills around Tehran in search of assistance in his suicide, receives from each of the men he asks for help a viewpoint on life HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 10375.
Takhté siah = Blackboards. 2000. 1 videodisc (82 min.). A group of male teachers crosses the mountainous paths of the remote Iranian Kurdish region. The men wander from village to village in search of students, carrying large blackboards on their backs. The boards are sometime used as shelter, camouflage, and shields instead of for teaching purposes. One by one the men venture away from the group in search of students to teach. Along their way they must face other hardships and obstacles, including unseen enemy helicopters and gunfire. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 1035
Unwanted woman. 2005. 2 videodiscs (103 min.). Searing tale about the struggles of women in modern-day Iran. Poor Sima puts up with her philandering and abusive husband, Ahmad. He is so blatant with his indiscretions that he asks Sima to cover for him when he plans a trip with his girlfriend Saba. In an Iran where unmarried couples can be arrested for fraternizing in public, Ahmad needs Sima to pretend that Saba is her cousin. Sima and the couple's young daughter accompany Ahmad and Saba on their trip - a humiliating situation for the devoted wife and mother. But, a surprising turn awaits the trio when they stop in a town where a man has just murdered his wife for her alleged affair. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 1911
Where Is the Friend's House?. 1987. The first film in Abbas Kiarostami's sublime, interlacing Koker Trilogy takes a simple premise-a boy searches for the home of his classmate, whose school notebook he has accidentally taken-and transforms it into a miraculous child's-eye adventure of the everyday. As our young hero zigzags determinedly across two towns, aided (and sometimes misdirected) by those he encounters, his quest becomes both a revealing portrait of rural Iranian society in all its richness and complexity and a touching parable about the meaning of personal responsibility. Sensitive and profound, WHERE IS THE FRIEND'S HOUSE? is shot through with all the beauty, tension, and wonder a single day can contain. Streaming video
Zamani barayé masti asbha = A time for drunken horses. 2000. 1 videodisc (79 min.). "After their father dies, a family of five is forced to survive on their own in a Kurdish village on the border of Iran and Iraq. Matters are made worse when twelve-year-old Ayoub, the new head of the family, is told that his handicapped brother Madi needs an immediate operation in order to remain alive. The family must go to any length to survive in the harshest of conditions, where even the horses are fed liquor to get them to work."--IMDb website. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 3604
Zanan-e bedun-e mardan = Women Without Men . 2009. 1 videodisc (95 min.). "Set against the political turmoil of Iran's 1953 coup d'etat, 'Women without men' tells the story of four disparate women whose lives converge in a mystical orchard on the outskirts of Tehran"-- Container. DVD 8664
Zemestan = It's winter. 2007. 1 videodisc (85 min.). A year in the lives of three residents of Tehran, working to build better futures" features Mokhtar, who leaves his wife, Khatoun, to seek opportunities outside Iran, while Khatoun is left alone to care for their daughter. Marhab, a heavy-machinery mechanic, sees Khatoun in the neighborhood, and tries to win her affections. Misfortune, fate, and tragedy befall their everyday lives.-- Container. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 9039
Zendan-e zanan = Women's prison. 2002. Global lens collection. 1 videodisc (106 min.). Mitra, in prison for killing her violent stepfather, confronts new warden Tahereh on the eve of a riot, fearlessly challenging her dogmatic views - which, over time, begin to change. DVD 8439