Director: Sam Kalantari
Cast: Jayi Baraye Fereshteha Nist (جایی برای فرشته ها نیست) is a documentary about Iran’s National Skating Girls Hockey Team and their difficulties in going to the Asian Games in South Korea. This movie, directed by Sam Kalantari, was made in 1398. This film
Jayi Baraye Fereshteha Nist (جایی برای فرشتهها نیست) is a 2020 Iranian documentary directed by Sam Kalantari, following the Iran women's national ice hockey team as they fight through bureaucratic, financial, and logistical barriers in pursuit of a place at the Asian Winter Games in South Korea.
What is Jayi Baraye Fereshteha Nist about?
The film chronicles the journey of a group of young Iranian women who have committed themselves to ice hockey — a sport with almost no institutional support inside the country. When the chance to represent Iran at an international Asian competition emerges, the team discovers that reaching the rink abroad requires clearing obstacle after obstacle: securing funding, navigating federation politics, obtaining travel approvals, and battling the relentless indifference of sports authorities. Kalantari's camera stays close throughout, capturing the players' persistence, their camaraderie on and off the ice, and the emotional cost of chasing a dream in a system that was not built for them.
The K-Time take
Kalantari keeps the film grounded in observational detail rather than polemic, letting the players' tenacity speak for itself. The documentary earns its IMDB 7.4 rating through quiet, honest filmmaking that resists easy conclusions while making the stakes feel entirely real.
Cast & crew
Sam Kalantari directs and serves as the film's primary creative voice, having crafted a portrait of the Iran women's ice hockey squad over the course of their preparation and travel campaign. The subjects of the documentary — the athletes themselves — carry every scene, and Kalantari draws out candid, unguarded moments that reveal the human story behind an unlikely sport.
Context & significance
For the Iranian diaspora, this documentary carries a particular resonance. Women's sport in Iran operates under a complex web of social and political restrictions, making the very existence of a national women's ice hockey team both remarkable and quietly subversive. Persian-speaking viewers abroad — many of whom left precisely because of such systemic barriers — will recognise the blend of resilience and exhaustion the athletes carry. The film belongs to a tradition of Iranian documentary cinema that finds dramatic tension inside everyday institutions, a tradition that has long earned international respect. It also speaks directly to diaspora audiences who follow Iranian women's achievements in sport with pride and solidarity, aware of how much each milestone costs.
Where & how to watch
Jayi Baraye Fereshteha Nist is available on K-Time in its original Persian audio with no geo-blocking — watch on the web, your TV, or your phone. No extra download required, and you can cancel anytime.