Director: Munir Gheidi
Cast: Niki Karimi, Pantea Panahiha, Hoda Zeinolabedin, Fereshteh Hosseini, Hossein Soleymani
Dasteye Dokhtaran is a 2022 Iranian drama-war film directed by Munir Gheidi, centered on a group of women who took up arms and moved to the front lines of the Iran-Iraq War to defend their homeland and participate in the battle for Khorramshahr — a chapter largely absent from official war chronicles.
What is Dasteye Dokhtaran about?
Set during the Iran-Iraq War, the film follows a unit of women volunteers who chose to leave behind their ordinary lives and join the armed defense of their country at the front. Sidelined by the dominant narratives of that conflict, these women carried weapons, faced the realities of combat, and fought alongside others for the city of Khorramshahr. The story unfolds through the experiences of this group as they navigate loyalty, fear, and solidarity under extreme conditions, illuminating a perspective that rarely surfaces in conventional accounts of the war.
Cast & crew
The film stars Niki Karimi, one of Iran's most recognized actresses with a decades-long career across drama and art-house cinema. She is joined by Pantea Panahiha, Hoda Zeinolabedin, and Fereshteh Hosseini — each a prominent figure in Iranian film and television — alongside Hossein Soleymani and Mehdi Hosseinina. The ensemble cast brings considerable dramatic weight to the ensemble war narrative.
Context & significance
War cinema has long been a significant strand of Iranian film production, often focusing on the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq War. Dasteye Dokhtaran approaches this familiar terrain from a rarely explored angle: the active, armed participation of women at the front. For the Iranian diaspora, stories from this period carry deep personal resonance — many families were directly affected by that conflict. This film offers a specific window into a wartime experience defined by gender, duty, and collective action, presented in the dramatic tradition of Iranian cinema.
Where & how to watch
Dasteye Dokhtaran is available on K-Time with original Persian audio. Watch on the web, on your TV, or on your phone with no VPN needed and no geo-blocking. Cancel anytime.