Director: Ali Asgari, Alireza Khatami
Cast: Majid Salehi, Gohar Kheyrandish, Farzin Mohades, Sadaf Asgari, Hossein Soleymani
Ayehaye Zamini is a 2023 Iranian comedy-drama anthology film co-directed by Ali Asgari and Alireza Khatami, presenting nine short vignettes that each follow an ordinary person navigating a different bureaucratic encounter across the stages of an ordinary Iranian life.
What is Ayehaye Zamini about?
From the registration of a newborn's name to the quiet paperwork of old age, the film traces a loose arc of a human life through nine self-contained episodes. In each segment, a single protagonist sits or stands before an unseen authority — a clerk, an examiner, an official — and tries to complete a routine transaction: obtaining a document, passing a test, submitting an application, seeking a permit. The camera remains fixed and composed throughout every episode, and the conversation between petitioner and bureaucrat carries the entire dramatic weight. What begins as small practical matters — a school graduation, a driving test, a job application, a creative submission — gradually reveals the particular rhythms and unspoken rules of daily institutional life in contemporary Iran. The tone shifts between dry wit and quiet melancholy as each protagonist finds their own way of engaging with a system that has its own logic.
Cast & crew
The ensemble cast includes Majid Salehi, Gohar Kheyrandish, Farzin Mohades, Sadaf Asgari, Hossein Soleymani, Faezeh Rad, Bahram Ark, and Servin Zabetian, each appearing in separate vignettes. Co-directors Ali Asgari and Alireza Khatami bring distinct sensibilities to this collaborative project; Asgari is known for precise observational storytelling while Khatami has worked across fiction and essay film forms.
Context & significance
Iranian anthology cinema has a strong tradition of linking short narratives through shared theme or geography, and Ayehaye Zamini works squarely within that tradition while referencing the poetic title drawn from Forough Farrokhzad's verse. For diaspora viewers, the film offers an intimate window into the texture of bureaucratic daily life in Iran — the waiting rooms, the forms, the careful words exchanged across counters. Its dry comedy will feel familiar to anyone who has dealt with institutional procedures, while the specific Iranian setting gives each episode a cultural specificity that resonates with Persian-speaking audiences worldwide. The anthology format also means viewers can approach the film at their own pace, with each vignette functioning as a complete, self-contained short story.
Where & how to watch
Ayehaye Zamini is available on K-Time with original Persian audio. Watch it on your browser, connected TV, or phone — no VPN needed, no geo-blocking, no extra download required. Your subscription can be cancelled anytime.