OurMovieNights
Tehran Is the Capital of Iran (1966) poster

1966 · documentary · poverty · essay

Tehran Is the Capital of Iran

Directed by Kamran Shirdel18m1966

Tehran Is the Capital of Iran (1966-79) documents life in a deprived district in the south of Tehran. The images of destitution in Tehran's poor areas is accompanied by a variety of spoken accounts: the official viewpoint on the district's living conditions, what the inhabitants have to say, and occasional extracts read out of school manuals. The key element in Shirdel's film is the counterpoint effect he creates with image and sound. His impressively powerful portrayal of social unease helps reinforce the impact of his astonishing documentary images and social themes.

Our read: Tehran Is the Capital of Iran (1966) reads as a heavy, measured, inventive documentary · poverty · essay entry — measured in intensity, intimate in scope, measured in temperature, nihilistic in outlook, with a strong directorial signature.

Movie DNA

Heavy, measured, measured documentary / poverty, inventive in texture. Nihilistic, intimate, measured.

ElsewhereIMDb7.3169TMDB5.65
  • heavy
  • measured
  • intense
  • bleak
Video previewNo trailer available for this one.
Game · before you press play

Watching Tehran Is the Capital of Iran tonight? Spin for your lens.

Everyone on the couch spins once and gets one craft to watch for. After the credits, compare what you caught.

Your lens for tonight

?

Everyone on the couch gets one craft to watch for. Spin the wheel to get yours. Sound on: the narrator reads your mission.

Where to watch
Not on streaming here right now.Check JustWatch Check Letterboxd
More info & search links
Where the cast leads
DNA · twelve axes

How Tehran Is the Capital of Iran feels to watch.

Each axis is scored by hand, not from votes or genre averages. The bar uses the film's own colours.

MoodHeavy ↔ Cosy
PacingSlow-burn ↔ Kinetic
IntensityGentle ↔ Extreme
WeirdnessConventional ↔ Surreal
HopeNihilistic ↔ Redemptive
StakesIntimate ↔ Epic
HumourNone ↔ Broad
RealityGrounded ↔ Fantastical
DensitySparse ↔ Twisty
WarmthCold ↔ Tender
AuteurTransparent ↔ Signature
Tonight, this looks like

What watching it is actually like.

“You want a short ironic doc contrasting Tehran poverty with propaganda.”

ends unsettlingit stays with yousteady all the waygrips from the openattention 3/5breezes bysubtitles: full
Date nightWith friendsSoloWith parentsKids around

Skip it tonight — You want fiction narrative or upbeat documentaries.

Nearest by DNA

Eight films that feel like this one.

Closest in the twelve-axis space, not “people also liked”. All films like Tehran Is the Capital of Iran, with why →

Your take
Rate it
star-clip-1-0star-clip-2-0star-clip-3-0star-clip-4-0star-clip-5-0
React
Discussion

Discussion

cmd enter to post

Make it a movie night.

Pick a mood, get a film the whole couch will enjoy, and give everyone something to watch for.

Pick tonight's film →
Watching with your partner?Play this film’s board