Franz is a 2025 biographical drama directed by Agnieszka Holland, tracing the life and lasting shadow of Franz Kafka — the Prague-born writer whose labyrinthine visions of bureaucracy, alienation, and dread shaped modern literature more profoundly than almost any other voice of the twentieth century.

What is Franz about?

Spanning decades from the cobblestone streets of nineteenth-century Prague to the broken world of post-First World War Vienna, the film constructs Kafka's existence as a series of overlapping impressions rather than a conventional chronology. Childhood in a Czech-Jewish household under a domineering father, youthful friendships in the German-speaking literary circles of Prague, the grinding humiliation of office work at an insurance company, and the quietly devastating romantic attachments that consumed his private life — all are rendered in fragments that accumulate into a portrait of a man perpetually at odds with the world around him. As Kafka ages and tuberculosis tightens its grip, the gap between the bureaucratic machinery he endured daily and the surreal labyrinths he constructed on paper at night grows ever more illuminating.

About the cast

Idan Weiss leads the film as Kafka, with veteran German character actor Peter Kurth bringing weight to the role of Kafka's father Hermann. Katharina Stark and Jenovéfa Boková portray key women in Kafka's life. The ensemble includes Czech actor Ivan Trojan and Carol Schuler, with direction by Agnieszka Holland — the acclaimed Polish filmmaker known for decades of award-winning European cinema.

Context & significance

For Persian-speaking viewers in the diaspora, Kafka's world carries a particular resonance. His writing is populated with faceless authorities, absurd bureaucratic systems, individuals ground down by forces they cannot name or appeal to — a sensibility that many Iranians who have navigated exile, immigration paperwork, or the memory of living under opaque state power will recognize viscerally. The film is available on K-Time with Persian dubbing and Persian subtitles, making it fully accessible for Farsi-speaking families and individuals who want to experience European art cinema in their own language without any barriers.

Watching Franz on Ktime

Franz is available on K-Time now, with both Persian dubbing and Persian subtitles. Watch on any web browser, Android TV, or Android phone — no VPN needed, no geo-blocking, and cancel anytime.