Director: Rasoul Sadrameli
Cast: Abolfazl Poor Arab, Dariush Arjmand, Nasrin Moghanloo, Enayat Bakhshi, Ali Sartipi
Ghorbani is a 1993 Iranian family-drama film directed by Rasoul Sadrameli, based on a true story that explores the raw collision between paternal love and filial resentment. Running 89 minutes, it follows the dangerous escalation of a broken father-son relationship into an act of violence that shocks an entire family.
What is Ghorbani about?
Twenty-nine-year-old Majid has grown up in the shadow of Haaj-Nosrat, a domineering father whose favoritism has left deep wounds. Feeling invisible and sidelined, Majid comes to see his father as the root of every misfortune in his life. Rather than confronting him directly, he hatches a plan that targets the one person Haaj-Nosrat genuinely adores — his youngest child, a ten-year-old boy. When Majid carries out the kidnapping, he forces a reckoning between a father's pride and a son's long-suppressed pain. The film observes the consequences with unflinching honesty, refusing easy resolution or melodrama.
Cast & crew
Director Rasoul Sadrameli brings a restrained, observational style to the material. The cast includes Abolfazl Poor Arab and Dariush Arjmand in pivotal roles, supported by Nasrin Moghanloo, Enayat Bakhshi, Ali Sartipi, Reza Ashtiani, and Milad Araghi. Each performer grounds the story in everyday domestic texture, making the family's fractures feel uncomfortably real rather than theatrical.
Context & significance
Iranian social cinema of the early 1990s frequently examined family as a microcosm of larger tensions — economic pressure, generational conflict, and the weight of tradition. Ghorbani fits squarely within this tradition, drawing on a true story to interrogate how love and resentment can coexist inside a single household. For diaspora viewers who grew up navigating the expectations of Iranian parents abroad, the film's central conflict — a son who feels erased by the very father he was supposed to honor — carries a particular resonance. Sadrameli presents no villain and no hero, only people whose wounds have calcified into choices.
Where & how to watch
Ghorbani is available on K-Time with original Persian audio and Persian subtitles. You can watch on the web browser, your TV, or your phone — no VPN required, no geo-blocking, no extra download needed. Cancel anytime.