Director: Alireza Raisian

Cast: Leila Hatami, Shahab Hosseini, Farhad Aslani, Mina Vahid, Parviz Pourhosseini

Dorane Asheghi is a 2014 Iranian drama film directed by Alireza Raisian, starring Leila Hatami and Shahab Hosseini. Set in contemporary Tehran, the film examines the contradictions between professional conviction and private life, following a family-law attorney whose casework begins to mirror her own unraveling domestic world.

What is Dorane Asheghi about?

Bita is a respected Tehran attorney who devotes her professional life to fighting for women in difficult marriage disputes. She is confident, articulate, and effective in the courtroom — yet the tensions accumulating inside her own household remain invisible to her. When a piece of overheard gossip unsettles her and a complicated client arrives carrying a crisis of her own, the boundary between Bita's caseload and her personal life begins to dissolve. As external pressures mount and her assumptions about her marriage are tested, the film draws a quiet portrait of a woman confronting a reality she has long kept at arm's length.

Cast & crew

Leila Hatami, one of Iran's most internationally recognized actors, brings measured restraint to the role of Bita. Shahab Hosseini, celebrated for his nuanced performances across Iranian cinema, appears as her husband. The supporting ensemble includes Farhad Aslani, Mina Vahid, Parviz Pourhosseini, Bita Farrahi, Sogol Ghalatian, and Nasim Adabi, each contributing layered performances to the domestic drama.

Context & significance

Dorane Asheghi belongs to a tradition of Iranian social drama that examines gender roles, marriage, and modern professional life through an intimate, realistic lens. Director Alireza Raisian is known for films that place women at the center of social tension without reducing them to symbols — a filmmaking sensibility that resonates deeply with diaspora audiences who carry lived knowledge of these pressures. For Iranian viewers abroad, the film offers both recognition and reflection: the Tehran world it depicts — educated, outwardly stable, privately strained — is one many left behind but never entirely shed. The film screened at the Gene Siskel Film Center in Chicago, reaching international audiences.

Where & how to watch

Dorane Asheghi is available on K-Time with Persian subtitles. Watch directly in your browser, on your television, or on your phone — no extra download required, no VPN needed, and no geo-blocking. Subscribe and cancel anytime.