6 Iranian movies themed on Afghan suffering

Iran and Afghanistan are two neighboring countries boasting a high level of cultural affinity and such reality is also reflected in Iranian cinema.

In this feature, the top six Iranian movies themed on Afghan suffering are presented:

1. ‘A Few Cubic Meters of Love’

‘A Few Cubic Meters of Love’ is a 2014 Iranian-Afghan romance film directed by Jamshid Mahmoudi. It was selected as the Afghan entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards.

The film shows the love between an Afghan girl and an Iranian boy. The Afghan girl has to return and this challenges the love between the two youths.

2. ‘Baran’

In the movie ‘Baran’, the eponymous heroine is an Afghan girl who disguises herself as a boy in order to work in an unfinished building. In the meantime, a young Iranian worker falls in love with her after the secret is revealed. The Afghan character utters no dialogue, but her presence as a worker invokes a sense of stubbornness in the Iranian worker, ultimately creating love through which the story is narrated.

Famous Iranian filmmaker Majid Majidi has directed the flick.

3. ‘Afghan Bride’

The theme of ‘Afghan Bride’ is supposed to portray the plight of Iran’s neighboring country, Afghanistan, by highlighting a romantic relationship.

Abolqasem Talebi chose interesting ideas for ‘Afghan Bride’.

4. ‘Once Upon a Time Iran’

The film is about an Afghan family that works as janitors in a villa in Iran. Gholamreza Jafari, an Afghan filmmaker who was born in Iran, was at the helm of this movie.

5.‘Sun Children’

Majid Majidi has been making sensitive and trenchant films about kids in Iran for three decades and he did the same  in ‘Sun Children’ (Khorshid)

“12-year-old Ali and his three friends, together they work hard to survive and support their families. In a turn of events that seems miraculous, Ali is entrusted to find hidden treasure underground,” a synopsis for the flick reads.

Iran’s Oscar-shortlisted ‘Sun Children’ depicts the suffering of children in child labor including those of Afghan nationality in Iran.  

6. 'Rona, Azim's Mother'

Iran's movie 'Rona, Azim's Mother' directed by Jamshid Mahmoudi has gone on screen at the Mannheim-Heidelberg International Film Festival in Germany.

The flick follows Azim, an Afghan refugee, who works at the municipality at night and lives in Tehran along with his family. As the oldest brother, he arranges for his entire family to be smuggled into Germany. However, complicated familial relationships jeopardize the family’s chances.

AG/AG