Here are some films and novels we suggest. Please add your own by sending suggestions to Medea.
Movies About Iran
About Elly (Asghar Farhadi, 2009)
Kanopy, Netflix DVD; mystery about a family on vacation at a beach resort
A Cube of Sugar (Reza Mirkarimi, 2011)
Amazon Prime Video
Children of Heaven (Majid Majidi, 1997)
Netflix DVD or Prime Video; After a boy loses his sister’s pair of shoes, he goes on a series of adventures to find them.
Close-Up (Abbas Kiarostami, 1990)
Netflix DVD; The true story of Hossain Sabzian that impersonated the director Mohsen Makhmalbaf to convince a family they would star in his so-called new film
The Color of Paradise (Majid Majidi, 1999)
Netflix DVD; The story of Mohammed, a blind Iranian boy and his father, Hashem, who is always oscillating between accepting his son as he is and abandoning him, as he represents a burden for him, after the loss of his wife.
Fireworks Wednesday (Asghar Farhadi, 2006)
Kanopy, Netflix DVD
In the Fire of Grace, Dancing Rumi’s Journey of the Soul.
A beautiful performance based on Sufi dance
Lizard (Kamal Tabrizi, 2004)
Comedy about an escaped prisoner who poses as a mullah
Offside (Jafar Panahi, 2006)
Young women enter sports stadium dress as men to watch soccer match
Persepolis (Vincent Paronnaud, Marjane Satrapi , 2006)
Amazon prime; A precocious and outspoken Iranian girl grows up during the Islamic Revolution.
The Salesman, (Asghar Farhadi, 2016)
Amazon prime; a teacher's wife is assaulted in her new home, which leaves him determined to find the perpetrator
A Separation (Asghar Farhadi, 2011)
Netflix DVD; 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.
Taxi (Jafar Panahi, 2015)
Netflix DVD Jafar Panahi is banned from making movies by the Iranian government, he poses as a taxi driver and makes a movie about social challenges in Iran.
Turtles Can Fly (2004, Bahman Ghobadi)
Amazon prime; Near the Iraqi-Turkish border on the eve of an American invasion in 2003, refugee children like 13-year-old Kak (Ebrahim), gauge and await their fate.
Where Is the Friend's House? (Abbas Kiarostami, 1987)
YouTube (in Persian); for sale on Amazon under the title The Koker Trilogy.
The Willow Tree (2005, Majid Majidi)
Youssef, a blind university professor, is suddenly diagnosed with a fatal disease and must undergo treatment in France.; Amazon Prime
Books About Iran
Garden of the Brave in War: Recollections of Iran – Terence O’Donnell
Jasmine and Stars: Reading more than Lolita in Tehran - Fatemeh Keshavarz
The Stationery Shop of Tehran – Majan Kamali
The Ungrateful Refugee: What Immigrants Never Tell You – Dina Nayeri
