Director: Mohammadhossein Gharibi

Cast: Babak Hamidian, Pardis Pourabedini, Rahim Norouzi, Hesam Mahmoudi, Mehran Ahmadi

Gharib is a 2023 Iranian drama film directed by Mohammadhossein Gharibi, telling the story of Martyr Mohammad Brojerdis command in Kurdistan during the turbulent post-revolution period of 1979. Running 128 minutes, it offers a portrait of leadership, unity, and the human cost of maintaining order in a fractured region.

What is Gharib about?

Following the Islamic Revolution, armed groups including the Komala and Democratic parties begin destabilizing Iranian Kurdistan in 1358 (1979). In response, a young commander named Mohammad Brojerdi receives a direct assignment from the highest authority to assume leadership of the Corps in Kurdistan and restore stability. What unfolds is not a straightforward military mission but a deeply human struggle: Brojerdi must earn the trust of the local population, bridge divides between communities, and face the moral weight of command in a region torn by competing loyalties. The film traces his journey from outsider — the meaning of the title Gharib — to a figure the Kurdish people come to know and, in time, trust. The stakes are not only political but deeply personal, as Brojerdi navigates the gap between orders and conscience amid real human suffering.

Cast & crew

Director Mohammadhossein Gharibi helms a cast of established Iranian talent. Babak Hamidian leads as the central commander, bringing restraint and depth to a role demanding both authority and empathy. Pardis Pourabedini, Rahim Norouzi, Hesam Mahmoudi, Mehran Ahmadi, and Farhad Ghaemian round out the ensemble, each grounding the historical drama in lived-in performances.

Context & significance

For diaspora viewers, Gharib arrives as a war-era historical drama that revisits the early post-revolution years — a period that shaped the lives of millions of Iranians, including those who later emigrated. The film belongs to the Iranian sacred defense genre, which focuses on the human stories behind military and political crises of the early 1980s. While the subject matter carries ideological weight within Iran, the emotional core — an outsider trying to earn trust in a fractured community — speaks broadly to themes of displacement, identity, and belonging that resonate across the diaspora experience. The word gharib itself, meaning stranger or foreigner, frames the entire story around the universal tension of being an outsider in a place you are trying to serve.

Where & how to watch

Gharib is available on K-Time in its original Persian audio. Watch on any web browser, Android TV, or Android phone with no VPN, no geo-blocking, and no extra download required. Subscription plans include a cancel-anytime option.