Cinema Rex - Iranian Cinema Podcast

Law of Tehran aka Just 6.5 aka Metri Shish o Neem tells the story of Samad (Payman Maadi) a narcotics detective in pursuit of a shadow drug kingpin Naser Khakzad (Navid Mohammadzadeh). One day a raid leads to capturing a low level dealer who leads to a bigger fish, who is somehow connected to the notorious drug lord. This film is available on Youtube. 

A precocious and outspoken Iranian girl grows up during the Islamic Revolution.

Written & Directed by Marjane Satrapi & Vincent Paronnaud

Two inept and unlucky blind men attempt a jewelry store robbery, setting off a chain of absurd, interwoven misadventures in a dryly comic tale about chance, failure, and the invisible threads between people.

Written & Directed by Shahram Mokri

After days of observing a mysterious man loitering outside her home, a young woman attempts to win this stranger's heart.

Written and Directed by Parviz Sayyad

While Ranaa and Emad, a married couple, are participating in a production of "Death of a Salesman," she is assaulted in their new home, which leaves him determined to find the perpetrator over his wife's traumatized objections.

Written and Directed by Asghar Farhadi.

After Hashem finds an abandoned baby in the backseat of his taxi, he and his girlfriend, Taji, must decide the fate of this child.

Written and Directed by Ebrahim Golestan

A hypnotically stylized murder mystery awash in period atmosphere, unfolds inside a candlelit mansion, where a web of greed, violence, and betrayal ensnares potential heirs as they vie for control of their matriarch’s estate.

Directed by Mohammad Reza Aslani

Acting under the cover of a Hollywood producer scouting a location for a science fiction film, a CIA agent launches a dangerous operation to rescue six Americans in Tehran during the U.S. hostage crisis in Iran in 1979.

Directed by Ben Affleck

This film is available on Prime Video and Crave

A recently jailed petty thief disguises as a Mullah and succeeds in escaping; but has to stay in the Mullah' role longer than he expected.

Directed by Kamal Tabrizi

Hamoon's wife is leaving him. He is also unsuccessfully trying to finish his Ph. D. thesis. He is forced to reexamine his life. In a series of flashbacks and dreams, Hamoon tries to figure out what he did wrong.

Written and Directed by Dariush Mehrjui.

Samad and the other villagers attend school so that they can learn to read, when a gang of drug smugglers infiltrate their class resulting in a hilarious slapstick confrontation between the villagers and the gangsters.

This movie is available on YouTube. Directed by Parviz Sayyad. 

Seventy-year-old Mahin, solitary until now, chooses to revive her love life. A chance encounter becomes an unforgettable evening.

Directed by Maryam Moghadam & Behtash Sanaeeha

To commemorate the 100th anniversary of film, Iranian director Mohsen Makhmalbaf advertises an open casting for his next movie. However when hundreds of people show up, he decides to make a movie about the casting of these would-be actors.

Directed by Mohsen Makhmalbaf. This film is available for rental on Vimeo.

Our first short films special where we dive into films by Pegah Ahangarani, Kaveh Mazaheri, Tara Aghdashloo & Jasmin Mozaffari.

This episode also includes special interviews with Jasmin Mozaffari and Arian Moayed.

Investigating judge Iman grapples with paranoia amid political unrest in Tehran. When his gun vanishes, he suspects his wife and daughters, imposing draconian measures in an attempt to uncover the truth.

Spoilers from 00:33:46 - 01:17:11

A young filmmaker delves into her mother and grandmother's complicated pasts, and her own fractured Iranian identity.

This episode also features interviews with the Director of the film, Sierra Urich, and Executive Producer Arian Moayed. 

A visual social examination in the form of ten conversations between a driving woman and her various pick-ups and hitchhikers. A film by Mania Akbari and Abbas Kiarostami.

After losing her house due to a taxing error, reformed addict Kathy Nicolo begins to harass the new owners of the house - Iranian immigrant Massoud Amir Behrani, along with his wife and son.

Based on the novel by Andre Dubus III. Directed by Vadim Perelman

This film is available for digital purchase and rental.

In 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.

Directed by Ana Lily Amirpour. This film is available for digital rental and purchase in the U.S, U.K. and Canada.