Iranian Nights

People Like Us Never Change(sv)

Back in prison, Didrik, 33, discovers a new way of expression and happiness through theatre and acting, and starts looking back at his past and upbringing with a sadistic mom and bullying peers.

La Flambée(fr)

John Gabriel Borkman(it)

John Gabriel Borkman, a former bank director, was imprisoned for fraud but believes he was wrongly convicted. He had invested clients' money in a major industrial venture but was reported by his friend Hinkel, who was in love with Borkman's former fiancée, Ella Rentheim. Borkman now lives on the first floor of the house, with his estranged wife, Gunhild, living on the ground floor. He occasionally receives visits from his friend Wilhelm Foldal, who supports Borkman's delusion that the bank will reinstate him. In his youth, Borkman betrayed his love for Ella by marrying her twin sister Gunhild to advance his career. After his conviction, Ella took care of their son Erhart and now wants him to live with her and take her name. Borkman agrees, but Gunhild refuses to let her sister take their son.

The Seagull(ru)

What if Konstantin Gavrilovich, from Anton Chekkov's famous play, did not commit suicide and was murdered instead? And who did it? Boris Akunin's take on The Seagull unfolds as a comedic murder mystery.

If it Please the Court(es)

The theatre as a courtroom, the courtroom as a theatre. Alejo Moguillansky’s film draws loosely on Raúl Quirós Molina’s El pan y la sal (The Bread and the Salt), a 2015 verbatim theatre piece compiled from the testimonies provided during the 2012 trial of Judge Baltasar Garzon, for investigating the forced disappearances of the Spanish Civil War and the Franco regime. Juxtaposing the testimonies of the relatives of those who lost loved ones with references to Argentina’s and Chile’s recent dictatorships, this film explores issues around international law and forced disappearance - tracing a line between Francisco Franco, Augusto Pinochet and Jorge Videla’s Military Junta: Garzón has investigated Argentine torturers and criminal perpetrators and had Pinochet arrested in London in 1998 for crimes against humanity.

Romeo and Juliet(en)

Premiering on BBC as a part of their Sunday-Night Theatre program, this 1955 adaptation of Shakespeare's classic play closely follows the original text. The Montagues and Capulets, two families of Renaissance Italy, have hated each other for years, but the son of one family and the daughter of the other fall desperately in love and secretly marry.

Sisyphus(fa)

An actor has been stuck in one of their roles for some time and is unable to separate themselves from it. The actor’s professional and personal life is affected by this role, and they can no longer distinguish between who they are and the character they play. They see eliminating themselves as the only way out of this crisis. Winner of the statuette and honorary diploma for Best Play in the playwriting section of the 38th Fajr International Theater Festival in 2019.

La Cerisaie(fr)

The last vestiges of a family that has gone from cherry season to sorrow... Madame Ranevskaya is a spoiled, aging aristocrat who, upon returning from a trip to Paris, must face the loss of her magnificent Cherry Orchard estate after defaulting on her mortgage. In denial, she continues to live in the past, deluding herself and her family, while the magnificent cherry trees are chopped down by the new owner Lopakhin, her former serf, who has his own agenda.

My Naked Villainy(en)

Ian, a commercially successful stage director, mounts an avant-garde production of "Othello" for the sole purpose of destroying Tyson, the actor who stole his fiancee Anne from him. Fanatic in his commitment to art, personal integrity and Zen Buddhism, Tyson makes the mistake of accepting the role of Othello in good faith at Anne's urging, only to find himself trapped in Ian's vengeful scheme, an escalating nightmare of absurdly bad theatre that threatens to spin out of control and push them all to the breaking point.

Black Swan(en)

The story of Nina, a ballerina in a New York City ballet company whose life, like all those in her profession, is completely consumed with dance. She lives with her retired ballerina mother Erica who zealously supports her daughter's professional ambition. When artistic director Thomas Leroy decides to replace prima ballerina Beth MacIntyre for the opening production of their new season, Swan Lake, Nina is his first choice.

The Great Lillian Hall(en)

Lillian Hall, a Broadway actress, has never missed a performance throughout her long, illustrious career. Yet in rehearsals for a new play her confidence is challenged. People and events conspire to take away her ability to do what she loves most.

National Theatre Live: Dixon and Daughters(en)

Mary has just been released from prison. She wants to come home and forget all about it but Briana has other ideas. Over a tumultuous two days a family is forced to confront not just their past but themselves. Because even if you refuse to hear the truth, the truth doesn’t go away. Róisín McBrinn returns to Clean Break (Favour) to direct this powerful story of family and forgiveness by Deborah Bruce (The House They Grew Up In). A co-production from National Theatre and Clean Break.

Sonata(en)

Before an important audition, a mute theater student summons his five core emotions as he deals with the loss of a close friend.

Razakar(ur)

"Razakar" is a period drama set in pre-Bangladesh-separation Pakistan, exploring the political tensions of the time. The story follows Jamal, an aspiring Bengali actor, as he grapples with the challenges posed by his uncompromising director, mirroring the larger socio-political conflicts unfolding around them. Through personal struggles and political subtext, the film raises poignant questions about identity and division.

IRON - O Homem da Máscara de Ferro(pt)

A loose stage adaptation of the classic by Alexandre Dumas, told as an interactive electropop musical experience, breaking the boundaries between stage and audience.

The Seagull(fr)

The story of Nina, a young woman who dreams of glory and whose dream turns into a nightmare. The story of Treplev, a young poet crushed by an invasive mother, who wants to prove to the world that he exists, that he deserves to be loved. Chekhov invites us to witness a moment in the lives of individuals who have made a choice, and will have to live with the consequences...

The Seasons(pl)

Egocentric stage actor Marcin has to face the unexpected breakdown of a long-term relationship. During three different performances, fantasy mixes with the prose of the life of a separating couple.

Night Stage(pt)

An actor and a politician start a secret affair and together discover their fetish for having sex in public places. The closer they get to their dream of fame, the more they feel the urge to put themselves at risk.

Period Pieces(fr)

A century after a village and its paper mill were abandoned, a group of actors is tasked with recreating the fantasized daily life of its inhabitants.

The Craft(en)

A Hollywood acting guru challenges a young actress to confront her demons in order to maximize her potential.

A Dry White Season(en)

During the 1976 Soweto uprising, a white school teacher's life and values are threatened when he asks questions about the death of a young black boy who died in police custody.

Julia(en)

At the behest of an old and dear friend, playwright Lillian Hellman undertakes a dangerous mission to smuggle funds into Nazi Germany.

God's Pocket(en)

A boozy lowlife tries to bury the truth about his crazy stepson's suspicious death, but a nosy newspaper columnist and the young man's mother complicate matters.

Reading Lolita in Tehran(en)

As Islamic morality squads stage arbitrary raids in Tehran and as fundamentalists seize hold of the universities, Azar Nafisi, an inspired teacher, secretly gathers six of her most committed female students to read forbidden western classics. Unaccustomed to being asked to speak their minds, they soon removed their veils, their stories intertwining with the novels they read: just like the heroines of Nabokov, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Henry James or Jane Austen, the women in Nafisi’s living room dare to dream, hope and love as we experience the complexity of the lives of individuals facing political, moral and personal siege.

Come Sunday(en)

Evangelist Carlton Pearson is ostracized by his church for preaching that there is no Hell.

The Truth About Emanuel(en)

A troubled young woman becomes obsessed with her mysterious new neighbor, who bears a striking resemblance to the girl's dead mother.

In This World(en)

Torn straight from the headlines, Michael Winterbottom's compelling and prescient 'In This World' follows young Afghan Jamal and his older cousin Enayat as they embark on a hazardous overland trip from their refugee camp at Peshawar, north-west Pakistan. Entering Turkey on foot through a snowy, Kurdish-controlled pass, the pair again take their lives into their hands and face suffocation when they are locked in a freight container on a ship bound for Italy. From there they plan to travel on to Paris, the Sangatte refuge centre and ultimately asylum in London.

Blue Chips(en)

Pete Bell, a college basketball coach is under a lot of pressure. His team isn't winning and he cannot attract new players. The stars of the future are secretly being paid by boosters. This practice is forbidden in the college game, but Pete is desperate and has pressures from all around.

Tyler Perry's Madea's Family Reunion - The Play(en)

The fireworks begin when Madea’s family gathers for her granddaughter’s wedding. As usual, Madea rules the roost, as she and her neighbor, the wacky Mr. Brown, deliver nonstop laughs. Live, love, rejoice...it’s Madea’s Family Reunion!

Nothing Like the Holidays(en)

It’s Christmastime and the far-flung members of the Rodriguez family are converging at their parents’ home in Chicago to celebrate the season and rejoice in their youngest brother’s safe return from combat overseas.

Werewolf: The Beast Among Us(en)

Set in a 19th century village, a young man studying under a local doctor joins a team of hunters on the trail of a wolf-like creature.

Eleanor the Great(en)

94-year-old Eleanor Morgenstein tries to rebuild her life after the death of her best friend. As a result, she moves back to New York City after living in Florida for decades.

Resurrecting the Champ(en)

Up-and-coming sports reporter rescues a homeless man ("Champ") only to discover that he is, in fact, a boxing legend believed to have passed away. What begins as an opportunity to resurrect Champ's story and escape the shadow of his father's success becomes a personal journey as the ambitious reporter reexamines his own life and his relationship with his family.

My Dinner with Hervé(en)

An unlikely friendship evolves over one wild night in LA between a struggling journalist and actor Hervé Villechaize, the world's most famous gun-toting dwarf, resulting in life-changing consequences for both.

Mickybo and Me(en)

The film tells the story of two boys who become friends at the start of the Troubles in 1970. The boys share an obsession with Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, with the consequence that they run away to Australia.

National Theatre Live: Hamlet(en)

As a country arms itself for war, a family tears itself apart. Forced to avenge his father's death but paralyzed by the task ahead, Hamlet rages against the impossibility of his predicament, threatening both his sanity and the security of the state.

Rebound: The Legend of Earl 'The Goat' Manigault(en)

A dramatization of the life of Earl 'The Goat' Manigault (Don Cheadle), with a lot of factual based occurrences. A reformed junkie returns from prison to clean up his act and devote the rest of his life to the young kids of Harlem. 1996 was the 25th anniversary of the first tournament named after him.

Origin(en)

While investigating the global phenomenon of caste and its dark influence on society, a journalist faces unfathomable personal loss and uncovers the beauty of human resilience.

TalhotBlond(en)

Thomas Montgomery, a married father of two young daughters, gets seduced by the world of online gambling and chat rooms where a virtual romance and sexual obsession ultimately leads to the murder of an innocent man.

Newness(en)

In contemporary Los Angeles, two millennials navigating a social media–driven hookup culture begin a relationship that pushes both emotional and physical boundaries.