What is Darband (2013) about?

It follows two young Tehran roommates — a medical student and a shop worker — whose clashing lifestyles give way to solidarity when one is detained and the other must navigate the system to secure her release.

Is Darband (filme irani) available online?

Yes. Darband is streaming on K-Time. You can watch it on the web, on your TV, or on your phone with your K-Time membership — no VPN or geo-blocking.

Darband ro koja bebinam?

K-Time dares this 2013 Iranian film in full. Sign in with your membership and stream it instantly in the original Persian audio on any device — web, TV, or phone.

Who directed Darband and who is in it?

Darband was directed by Parviz Shahbazi. The lead cast includes Pegah Ahangarani, Nazanin Bayati, Behrang Alavi, and Ahmad Mehranfar.

Darband

Name: Darband
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Released: 2013
Duration: 92 min
Cast: Pegah Ahangarani, Behrang Alavi, Nazanin Bayati, Ahmad Mehranfar

Director: Parviz Shahbazi

Cast: Pegah Ahangarani, Behrang Alavi, Nazanin Bayati, Ahmad Mehranfar

Darband is a 2013 Iranian drama-thriller directed by Parviz Shahbazi, set in contemporary Tehran. The film examines the unlikely bond that forms between two young women from opposite social worlds when a legal crisis forces them to look past their differences and stand together.

What is Darband about?

Nazanin, a disciplined first-year medical student, cannot secure a spot in the university dormitory and has little money to spare. She ends up sharing a flat with Sahar, an outgoing young woman who earns her living at a perfume shop and quietly dreams of leaving the country. Their personalities clash almost immediately — Nazanin's structured world sits uneasily beside Sahar's free-spirited approach to life. The situation grows more fraught when Sahar, who has borrowed money from a merchant she trusted, finds herself facing a complaint lodged against her. She is taken into custody, and Nazanin — despite every tension that had accumulated between them — makes the decision to fight for her release, navigating a system that offers few easy answers.

Cast & crew

Director Parviz Shahbazi brings a restrained, observational style to the material, letting performance drive meaning. Pegah Ahangarani plays Sahar with a restless energy that makes the character's yearning feel visceral. Nazanin Bayati portrays the more guarded Nazanin with quiet conviction, while Behrang Alavi and Ahmad Mehranfar provide effective support in roles that complicate the central dynamic.

Context & significance

Darband takes its title from the historic mountain footpath in northern Tehran, a place where Tehranis of every class mingle — an apt metaphor for a film about social distance and unexpected solidarity. For diaspora viewers, the film captures the texture of everyday urban life in Iran with a specificity that documentary-style Iranian cinema has long excelled at. Shahbazi's work belongs to a tradition of socially conscious Iranian drama that focuses on structural pressures — housing, debt, the legal system — as they bear on ordinary people, particularly women. At 92 minutes the film is brisk and unsentimental, and its moral questions linger: what does loyalty look like when it costs you something?

Where & how to watch

Darband is available on K-Time with original Persian audio. You can stream it through your web browser, on your TV, or on your phone — no extra download required, no VPN needed, and no geo-blocking. Membership is cancel anytime.