Parvis belongs to two places and feels fully at home in neither. No Hard Feelings, Faraz Shariat's 2020 drama from Germany, traces how a spell of community service at a refugee shelter draws him toward a brother and sister newly arrived from Iran.
What is No Hard Feelings about?
Raised in a small German town by parents who left Iran as exiles, Parvis gets through the days on pop culture, dating-app meetups and long nights at raves. A shoplifting offence interrupts that routine, and he is ordered to work off his sentence at a shelter for refugees. Among the residents are Banafshe and her brother Amon, who have fled Iran. The three grow close quickly, although Parvis was raised in this town and the siblings have only just reached it. Then the friendship between Parvis and Amon turns into attraction. As the two young men grow closer, the fragile bond that holds all three together comes under strain.
About the cast
Benjamin Radjaipour, Eidin Jalali and Banafshe Hourmazdi head the credited cast, with Hadi Khanjanpour, Paul Lux, Sevil Mokhtare, Abak Safaei-Rad and Mashid Shariat also listed. Since the story turns on three young characters and the shifting loyalties among them, much of its weight rests on the interplay of the performers at its centre.
Context & significance
Faraz Shariat directs this German production, which the catalogue files under both drama and romance. Its subject is the Iranian diaspora seen from two angles at once: the children of people who left years ago, and those who are arriving now. Parvis and the siblings share roots, yet they stand in very different relations to the country they are living in. The romance between two young men sits at the heart of the film, alongside questions of belonging, family history and what home means to a second generation. The running time is 92 minutes, and K-Time carries the title with both a Persian dub and Persian subtitles.
Watching No Hard Feelings on Ktime
No Hard Feelings can be streamed on K-Time. This page is free to read; playing the film requires signing in with a K-Time account. A Persian-dubbed version and Persian subtitles are both available for this title, and the whole service can be used through a Farsi interface built for Iranians living outside the country.