Director: Hossein Ebrahimi Dastgerdi

Cast: Hassan Asadi, Mehdi Aminikhah, Amin Aghaei, Masoumeh Fallahnia, Alireza Farzad

Afate Gandom is a 2020 Iranian drama film directed by Hossein Ebrahimi Dastgerdi, set in a rural village where superstition and tradition collide with reason. Running 65 minutes, the film follows a returning villager who confronts the local soothsayer's exploitation of a sacred tree and the community's entrenched folk beliefs.

What is Afate Gandom about?

After two decades away, Ghobad returns to his home village and quickly discovers that a local fortune-teller has been manipulating the community through a centuries-old tree and the grave buried beneath it. The villagers have grown deeply attached to these superstitions, treating them as sacred truths. When Ghobad resolves to expose what lies beneath the tree and challenge the false narratives that have shaped his village for years, he faces fierce resistance from those whose lives, identities, and livelihoods are bound to the old beliefs. The film traces his quiet but determined effort to bring clarity to a community that is not sure it wants to see clearly.

Cast & crew

Director Hossein Ebrahimi Dastgerdi helms a cast of experienced Iranian character actors. Hassan Asadi and Mehdi Aminikhah take central roles, supported by Amin Aghaei, Masoumeh Fallahnia, Alireza Farzad, Gholamreza Bagheri, Mohammad Najafi, and Ali Amir Mahani. Together they portray the layered social fabric of a tight-knit rural Iranian community.

Context & significance

Stories about rural superstition and the tension between tradition and rationalism have a long place in Iranian cinema and literature. Afate Gandom sits within that lineage, placing its drama in the kind of small agricultural village that many members of the Iranian diaspora recognize from their own family histories or from the classic films of the Iranian New Wave. For viewers who grew up in Iran or heard stories from parents and grandparents about village life, the film offers a recognizable world — one where social pressure, collective memory, and local authority often outweigh individual reasoning. The 65-minute runtime keeps the story focused and unhurried.

Where & how to watch

Afate Gandom is available to stream on K-Time with original Persian audio. Watch on the web, your TV, or your phone — no VPN needed, no geo-blocking, and no extra download required. Start a membership and cancel anytime.