One phone call is all it takes to unravel a lawyer's quiet life. Shabake, Iraj Ghaderi's 2006 drama, follows the thread of a private tragedy into a web of corporate corruption — with the veteran director casting himself among his own ensemble.
What is Shabake about?
Behnoud Amin practises law and shares an apartment with his daughter Maryam, until a devastating night tears that life apart. Searching for answers, he is drawn toward the family next door: a mother and her daughter Farzaneh, who keeps the accounts at a powerful company. At its head sits the imposing Mofakham; his son-in-law Amir Ali runs day-to-day operations, while his son Pejman drifts through addiction and increasingly reckless dealings. When Farzaneh hands Amir Ali a file documenting Pejman's misconduct, she triggers a chain reaction that pulls everyone around her into danger. What Behnoud gradually uncovers is not a single crime but a network — the shabake of the title — reaching far wider than a grieving father could have imagined.
About the cast
Nima Shahrokh Shahi leads a stacked commercial cast: comedy great Akbar Abdi, Mahchehreh Khalili, Afsaneh Pakroo, Sirus Gorjestani, Maryam Amirjallali and Amir Ali Ranjbar all feature. Ghaderi himself steps in front of the camera as well, continuing the actor-director double duty that ran through most of his long career.
Context & significance
Iraj Ghaderi was among the busiest figures of Iranian popular cinema, with roots reaching back to the pre-revolution film industry and a reputation for fast-moving, audience-first melodrama. Shabake belongs to his late period, when he folded the social anxieties of the day — addiction, white-collar corruption, families under pressure — into commercial drama with thriller bones. Released in 2006 and running 108 minutes, it met a solid, unshowy reception — a respectable showing for mainstream Iranian drama of its era.
Watching Shabake on Ktime
Reading this page requires nothing at all; streaming Shabake on K-Time takes only a free account login. The platform is designed in Farsi for Iranians living outside the country, and it shelves Ghaderi's brand of popular cinema right beside the arthouse canon, so an evening can move freely between the two.