Cinema Rex - Iranian Cinema Podcast
From Kiarostami to Abbasi, from Farrokhzad to Amirpour. From pre-revolutionary cinema to modern times. Join Iranian-Canadian filmmakers Kaveh Mohebbi and Faran Moradi (a screenwriter and a director) as they embark on a crash-course on all that Iranian cinema has to offer episode-to-episode one film at a time.
Episodes
Oct 9, 2025
Oct 9, 2025
54 min
Investigating reports of demonic possessions in a remote village, a skeptical military officer finds his beliefs tested by an enigmatic exorcist.
Directed by Arsalan Amiri
This film is available to watch on YouTube
Sep 25, 2025
Sep 25, 2025
1 hr 3 min
Banned from making movies by the Iranian government, Jafar Panahi poses as a taxi driver and makes a movie about social challenges in Iran.
Written and Directed by Jafar Panahi
This film is available to view on Hoopla, or rent/own from Apple TV
Sep 11, 2025
Sep 11, 2025
59 min
A government tax auditor’s failing marriage unravels as his moral compromises at work mirror the growing alienation and mistrust in his home.
Written and Directed by Abbas Kiarostami
This film is available to view on the Criterion Channel
Aug 28, 2025
Aug 28, 2025
1 hr 42 min
In the wake of the Iranian Revolution, a prosperous Jewish family abandons everything before they are consumed by the passions of revolutionaries.
Directed by Wayne Blair
This film is available digitally in the USA from Fandango and in Canada through Plex and PlutoTV free with ads.
Aug 14, 2025
Aug 14, 2025
1 hr 16 min
The honour Shahin and Shakoor, two brothers leading a powerful gang in the underbelly of Tehran, is brought into question when a video of their sister leaks, threatening to unravel not just their gang but their own family.
Written and Directed by Houman Seyyedi
This film is available to view on YouTube
Jul 31, 2025
Jul 31, 2025
54 min
In an attempt to raise money for his sick wife's medical care, an Afghan refugee partakes in a grueling exhibition where he must bike, non-stop for seven days and seven nights - battling hunger, exhaustion and enemies who stand to gain from his loss.
Written and Directed by Mohsen Makhmalbaf.
This film is available to view on YouTube.
Jul 17, 2025
Jul 17, 2025
1 hr 16 min
Law of Tehran aka Just 6.5 aka Metri Shish o Neem tells the story of Samad (Payman Maadi) a narcotics detective in pursuit of a shadow drug kingpin Naser Khakzad (Navid Mohammadzadeh). One day a raid leads to capturing a low level dealer who leads to a bigger fish, who is somehow connected to the notorious drug lord.This film is available on Youtube.
Jul 3, 2025
Jul 3, 2025
1 hr 52 min
A precocious and outspoken Iranian girl grows up during the Islamic Revolution.
Written & Directed by Marjane Satrapi & Vincent Paronnaud
Jun 19, 2025
Jun 19, 2025
1 hr 8 min
Two inept and unlucky blind men attempt a jewelry store robbery, setting off a chain of absurd, interwoven misadventures in a dryly comic tale about chance, failure, and the invisible threads between people.
Written & Directed by Shahram Mokri
Jun 5, 2025
Jun 5, 2025
1 hr 9 min
After days of observing a mysterious man loitering outside her home, a young woman attempts to win this stranger's heart.
Written and Directed by Parviz Sayyad
Kaveh Mohebbi
Kaveh Mohebbi is an Iranian-Canadian screenwriter who received his MA in Screenwriting at the London Film School (UK). Soon after he was a graduate of the Second City writing program where he wrote and produced the mainstage show. Apocalypse Now, Desert Later. In 2013 Kaveh was invited into the CFC Writer’s Lab, which led to his involvement as co-writer on a number of short films including the Official TIFF Selection, STILL and the Official Austin Film Festival Selection, Life on Juniper. Writing credits include, This Hour has 22 Minutes, CBC Gem's Communist Daughter, Overlord and the Underwoods. Nickeodeon's kids animated Hamsters of Hamsterdale and Season 1 and 2 of Amazon's first Canadian scripted comedy The Lake. Kaveh currently has an hour long detective comedy Sandcastle in development with E1 as well as a half-hour comedy, Laughganistan, in development with Cameron Pictures and Amazon.
Faran Moradi
Faran Moradi is a CSA-nominated Iranian-Canadian filmmaker, born and raised in Ontario. Faran recently made his first feature film a romantic-comedy set in the Toronto Iranian community called Tehranto, which was nominated for multiple CSAs, was shortlisted for Sundance 2021 and won Cinequest’s Best Feature in 2022. Tehranto recently completed its Canadian and American theatrical runs, and is now available On Demand. Faran went on to direct and edit on Emmy Award winning TV shows including Odd Squad, and write and direct the award winning short film Blackpowder and Guilt. He most recently directed 4 episodes of Holly Hobbie (Hulu) and 2 episodes of the upcoming show Dino Dex (Prime).