Director: Kazem Mollaie
Cast: Hossein Bonyad, Saeed Dakh, Hadi Amel Hasemi
Goorkan is a 2020 Iranian short film directed by Kazem Mollaie, running thirty-two minutes and following two brothers racing against time to lay their father to rest — a spare, unsentimental portrait of duty, grief, and the rituals that bind families even in their darkest hours.
What is Goorkan about?
When their father passes away, two sons find themselves caught in an urgent, unglamorous scramble to complete his burial before circumstances conspire against them. The film strips the act of mourning down to its most practical and physical demands: arrangements must be made, obstacles must be cleared, and the weight of loss must be carried alongside every logistical burden. Mollaie keeps the camera close, letting the brothers' strained exchanges and worn expressions carry the emotional freight. The story is deceptively simple — two men, one task — yet the short form allows the director to excavate something genuine about Iranian familial obligation and the quiet dignity hidden inside an act as fundamental as putting someone in the ground.
Cast & crew
Director Kazem Mollaie shapes the film around a lean two-man dynamic. Hossein Bonyad and Saeed Dakh carry the weight of nearly every scene as the two sons, their performances grounded in restraint rather than melodrama. Hadi Amel Hasemi rounds out the principal cast, adding texture to the world the brothers must navigate.
Context & significance
Short films have long served as a proving ground for Iranian cinema's most distinctive voices, and Goorkan fits squarely into that tradition. Films about burial, mourning, and familial duty occupy a specific and resonant place in Persian storytelling — from classical literature to contemporary screen work — because they force characters to confront mortality without evasion. For diaspora viewers, stories centred on these rituals carry an added layer of weight: the fear of not being present, of not being able to fulfil obligations across borders. Goorkan distils that anxiety into thirty-two minutes of lean, purposeful filmmaking.
Where & how to watch
Goorkan is available on K-Time with original Persian audio. No VPN is required and there is no geo-blocking — stream directly from the web, on your TV, or on your phone. Subscription is flexible; cancel anytime.