To anyone who wishes to get a feel for the country, I would highly recommend watching anything by Abbas Kiarostami or Asghar Farhadi. Some are a bit new-wave-ish, but The White Balloon is very approachable and family friendly. And each film often has little nice touches that reveal aspects of the culture, and characters and writing with plenty of depth.
A Separation is among the best dramas I've ever seen, period. It's been years since I've seen Children of Heaven but I recall very much enjoying it too.
I’m surprised Jafar Panahi’s “[Tehran] Taxi” is not on that list. This is a very unique film (both for Iranian Cinema and in general). Subtly subversive and critical of the regime, I am amazed this passed the censors.
Panahi worked as assistant director for Kiarostami and his earlier work “The White Baloon” (also strangely not on that list) won him international recognition. He has a very fresh eye.
(Tehran) Taxi - Awarded the Golden Bear at the 2015 Berlin International Film Festival:
I did like A Separation for how it drew you into its ethical dilemmas, and also how it kept the truth hidden from you as much as it was for the main character who acts a witness to the unfolding conflict. I also thought the last scene was a beautiful counterpoint to the heaviness of the film.
A Moment of Innocence, Close-Up, Where Is My Friend's Home?, and Persepolis are next up on my watch list. A Moment of Innocence is a bit hard to find and seems to be available only on DVD.
I thought A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night was pretty entertaining. It was made in the U.S., but by an Iranian-American and its setting is fictional (“Bad City”) with Persian dialog. It has a Jim Jarmusch feel to it.
As an Iranian cinephile, that's a good list. My favourite is probably Persepolis but I'm biased as my coming of age story is very similar to the story's heroine.
