Persian is one of the dominant languages in the Middle East and Central Asia. Luckily, there are plenty of excellent Persian cinemas.
So, why not combine your love of the film with your study of Farsi? Explore 15 fabulous Iranian movies to learn Persian.
Persian, also known as ‘Farsi’ in Iran, ‘Dari’ in Afghanistan, and ‘Tajik’ in Tajikistan, is among the 25 most widely spoken languages in the world.
Whatever your reasons for studying Persian, it is undoubtedly a beautiful language.
As with studying a foreign language, comprehension takes time. Besides, Persian is a complex language for English speakers. But there are ways to make it simple.
And what is a better method than enjoying films in the original language as intended?
If you’re learning the Persian language, the chances are that you might already know a rich array of surpassing movies from Iran.
Watching Iranian Films is Great for Studying Persian
You can use movies to gain exposure to the Persian language and Iranian culture and tradition. Plus, it encourages you to learn a new language in an entertaining way.
Moreover, watching the film in its original Persian language with subtitles is a more immersive experience.
Persian isn’t an easy language to learn.
Watching Iranian films, even with subtitles, will significantly enhance your speaking and listening skills. It also provides a set of phrases and expressions for natural conversations.
While viewing movies is one of the best language-learning techniques.
Films alone, however, are not enough to gain any language.
You need additional vital components, such as Persian courses in Delhi, books, and audio lessons. Take the movies as a supplement to enhance your Persian language skills.
15 Enjoyable & Must-Watch Movies to Learn Persian
You can watch Iranian movies for learners on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, IMVBox, and many other streaming platforms to learn Persian.
Some videos are available on YouTube, YT Premium, and other online websites.
At LanguageNext, I researched and compiled a list of the 15 most popular Iranian movies to help you learn and improve your Persian, across all ages, genres, and levels!
Let’s explore!
1. A Separation (2011)
When I saw A Separation, I was appalled by how good an Iranian movie could be.
Set in present-day Iran, A Separation is a fascinating melodrama about a troubled marriage. This is my all-time favorite Iranian flick.
Directed and written by Asghar Farhadi, the film tells the story of a middle-class couple who are unhappily married and have an eleven-year-old daughter, Termeh.
Both love each other, but Simin (the wife) wants to move abroad for a better life. The husband (Nader) intends to remain in Iran to care for his sick father.
It eventually led to Simin’s demand for divorce. This was followed by a chain of events and intense court drama that made the film gripping, unusual, and full of emotion.
The film shows the essence of being human and doesn’t take sides. A Separation could be a top choice if you’re looking for the best Persian movies.
It won more than 100 nominations and awards, including Best Foreign Language Film at the Golden Globes and the Oscars. The dialogues help improve pronunciation.
2. Children of Heaven (1997)
If you’re looking for an intriguing Persian family drama, Director Majid Majidi has a masterpiece for you: Children of Heaven!
The 1997 Persian film presents an adorable tale of two siblings, Ali and Zahra, who live miserable, stressful lives.
When Ali loses his sister’s pair of shoes, he finds them. When he fails, he tries a new heartwarming trick to get a new pair of shoes.
The acting of Ali and Zohra is splendid, and the storyline is very touching. If you’re searching for “real cinema” to help you improve your Persian, this is a film to keep on your favorite list.
The conversational context is encouraging for a beginner.
3. The Lizard (2004)
Marmoulak (The Lizard) is a funny yet thoughtful political, social, and religious satire.
The film revolves around the main character, a thief who escapes prison but disguises himself as a Mullah, a disguise he wears longer than he initially intended.
The movie tries to differentiate between true believers and those who use religion negatively to control the masses.
While non-Iranians may not fully grasp its subtleties, the movie is undoubtedly a must-watch.
The feature film includes a lot of political jargon. Still, this is the film to see if you’re an intermediate Farsi learner.
The movie uses contemporary standard Persian and colloquial expressions, making it an excellent choice for elementary and other learner levels.
4. The Color of Paradise (1999)
It is another Iranian movie directed by Majid Majidi. It is a heartwarming drama about an eight-year-old boy who is blind and lives in a secluded village with his widowed father, two sisters, and grandmother.
The boy, Mohammad, is loved by his grandfather and two sisters.
His poor father, Hashem, wanted to marry into a wealthy family with a young family to support.
Having a blind boy to help is an additional burden that makes him curse his bad fortune.
He believes his disabled son will impede his possibilities.
The director achieves beauty through simplicity. This film is not just about a blind boy but also about his sighted father, who is too blind to see his beautiful family.
5. Hamoun (1990)
Hamoun narrates a psychological story of a male midlife crisis in Iran through flashbacks, imagination, and dreams.
Hamoon, the main character in the film, is shocked when his wife wants a divorce.
He also can not complete his Ph.D. thesis. Once, he fails to understand why his wife wants to divorce him, forcing him to contemplate what went wrong in his life.
It is one of the must-watch movies for Persian learners.
6. About Elly (2015)
Farhadi is an absolute genius filmmaker in storytelling.
About Elly” is an enthralling and tense mystery movie about a young woman who disappears during a festive weekend outing at a coastal retreat.
Three married couples with their children visited a coastal resort for a festive weekend. They also bought Ahmad (the brother of one of their wives) and Elly, a schoolteacher.
Sepideh, another wife, bought Elly, hoping she and Ahmad might link up. However, the film takes a U-turn when Elly disappears while attempting to save a child from drowning.
Was she drowned? Or is there more to this than meets the eye?
In this nail-biting thriller, you’ll stay fascinated until the end. In the acting and story, everything is of the highest order.
Farhadi won the Silver Bear for Best Director at the 59th Berlin International Film Festival.
7. The Cow (1969)
It is a simple story about a poor villager, Mash Hassan, who owns the village’s only cow.
The cow is his sole source of happiness and livelihood.
Since Hassan has no children, he takes the role of the soon-to-be father of his pregnant cow.
The cow suddenly dies after going to the city for work.
Now, the villagers are frightened of his reaction to it when he comes back. Will the news push him over the edge and make him insane?
Or will the wound heal over time?
The director, Dariush Mehrjui, portrays a simple yet moving story about people’s lives and their relationship with nature.
The Cow is a gem of Iranian cinema.
8. Where is the Friend’s Home? (1987)
It is a story about an eight-year-old boy in an Iranian village.
After mistakenly taking his classmate’s notebook, the boy searches for his classmate’s home, worrying that the school may expel him.
The film Where is the Friend’s Home (Khane-ye Doust Kodjast) explores the simplistic and innocent world of childhood.
With a simple plotline, the renowned filmmaker Kiarostami has created one of the best films ever made in Iran. It is also a good film for language enthusiasts.
9. Fireworks Wednesday (2006)
The director of About Elly and A Separation has made another superb film about the unhappiness of marriage.
The Fireworks Wednesday is gripping, suspenseful, emotional, moving, and dramatic.
A prosperous family in Tehran hires bride-to-be Rouhi (Taraneh Alidoosti) as a maid.
Once she started working, she found the domestic conflict. Mojdeh was sure about her husband having an affair with a woman from her neighborhood.
She has convinced Rouhi to be a spy and find the confirmation.
At last, what Rouhi discovers jeopardizes the couple’s marriage and her future.
Fireworks Wednesday is one of the best movies for learning Persian, especially for advanced students.
10. The Runner (1984)
The Runner, directed by the distinguished Amir Naderi, was probably the first post-revolution Iranian film to attract global attention.
The movie is all about desire, destination, and dream.
It is a tale about a poor boy, Amiro, who lost his home during the war.
As an illiterate and abandoned boy, he has to do little work to live another day. One day, he realizes that studying in school is the only way to be successful.
Thus, he joined a school but always had problems with his classmates.
Finally, there is a competition to see who can speak the alphabet in one breath.
It is a fascinating story about an orphan who proved his worth through intelligence, determination, and hard work.
You would like a simple vocabulary and easy-to-understand dialogues.
11. Taste of Cherry (1997)
Beautifully written, brilliantly acted, and sensitively directed, Taste of Cherry is an emotionally complex film about life and death.
The film won the Palme d’Or at Cannes in 1997.
It is a simple and beautiful film about a depressed middle-aged man, Badii, who is intent on killing himself.
He drives through the Iranian villages and deserts, searching for someone who can bury him after committing suicide.
Will he see the beauty of life, or is his decision irreversible?
You will witness 95 minutes of intense and invigorating discourse in Taste of Cherry. It is one of the best Iranian movies of the 90s.
12. Turtles Can Fly (2004)
It is a haunting film by Iranian writer and director Bahman Ghobadi in the war zone.
The film is a depressing story of injured children, a devastating reminder of the costs of war.
It’s set in a Kurdish part of Iraq near the Turkish border in early 2003. The villagers await news of an American invasion.
The war caused hundreds of children to become orphans and homeless, which has turned into a state of chaos and violence.
A refugee, 13-year-old Kak (Satellite), struggles, gauges, and awaits his fate.
Turtles Can Fly is one of the most powerful anti-war movies ever made. The film’s accent is friendly enough for a novice to grasp.
13. The Past (2013)
Asghar Farhadi is my favorite Iranian director. And why not?
He has made some of the best Iranian movies through incredible stories. His filmmaking skills are unmatched.
If you want to enjoy a tremendous Farsi flick, look nowhere else!
After living separately for four years, Ahmad arrives in Paris to complete the divorce procedure. During his short stay, he finds the relationship between Marie and her daughter, Lucie, uneasy.
While the scenes give a skein of emotion connecting them, Marie now wants to move on by marrying another man, Samir.
And the new guy himself was involved in an unresolved traumatic relationship with his ex-wife.
The second half is full of mystery and a thought-provoking message about the past in the present—a must—watch movie for those who want to learn Persian.
14. Close-Up (1990)
Close-up is the story of a real-life person who was arrested for impersonating the famous Iranian director Mohsen Makhmalbaf.
The movie follows the trial of Hossein Sabzian, charged with fraud.
This movie is not like other Kiarostami films. It is more like a documentary and biography. It is a unique motion picture that narrates the story through layers of flashbacks and shifting points of view.
You might feel that this appears to be a simple story, but in reality, “Close Up” is more complicated than one can imagine.
This is one of the most popular Movies for Persian language learners.
15. The Song of Sparrows (2008)
The 96-minute dramatic talkie showcases Majidi’s masterful storytelling and Naji’s superb acting.
Karim, a simple family man, used to work at an ostrich farm and could make a decent living until one day an ostrich ran away. After losing his job, he started collecting useless rubbish and neglected his wife and daughter.
One thing leads to another.
When his daughter lost her hearing aid right before crucial school exams, he rode his motorbike to Tehran to look for work.
He finally became a taxi driver, collecting more junk instead of money.
In the end, when Karim breaks his foot, his neighbors’ kindness makes him realize that his priorities have taken a turn for the worse.
The critically acclaimed film will help you build a solid vocabulary and practice sentences.