Director: Siamak Shayeghi
Cast: Azita Hajian, Ladan Mostofi, Milad Mirzaei
Mah Dar Jangal (Moon in the Forest) is a 2015 Iranian drama film directed by Siamak Shayeghi, set against the dense, threatened woodlands of Mazandaran. The film follows a young man reluctantly drawn into his father's lifelong battle to protect the forest from illegal loggers, exploring loyalty, inheritance, and environmental conscience.
What is Mah Dar Jangal about?
Agha Moharram has spent decades as a seasoned forest ranger guarding the forests of Mazandaran, a region whose ancient trees face constant assault from timber smugglers. When a brutal attack by those smugglers lands Moharram in hospital, his son Yahya is left with an unwanted choice. Yahya has always kept his distance from his father's demanding, thankless vocation — yet now he carries Moharram to the remote forest cabin to nurse him back to health. Surrounded by the very landscape his father has devoted his life to defend, Yahya cannot stay indifferent. As the smugglers press on with their destruction, the young man finds himself standing between them and the trees, confronting questions about duty, courage, and what it means to carry a father's purpose forward.
Cast & crew
The film is directed by Siamak Shayeghi, an Iranian filmmaker drawn to stories rooted in rural and working-class Iranian life. Azita Hajian and Ladan Mostofi bring grounded performances that anchor the family drama, while Milad Mirzaei portrays Yahya with quiet restraint, conveying the internal conflict of a son caught between his own future and his father's unyielding sense of duty.
Context & significance
Mah Dar Jangal belongs to a strong tradition of Iranian social-realist cinema that places ordinary people at the centre of environmental and moral struggles. Mazandaran's forests — among the most ecologically significant in the country — have long carried symbolic weight in Persian culture, representing life, continuity, and contested heritage. For diaspora audiences, the film resonates as a portrait of rural Iran far removed from urban clichés: the rhythms of the forest, the cost of conscience, and the slow negotiation between generations over what is worth protecting. It is the kind of quiet, observational filmmaking that international audiences have come to associate with Iranian cinema at its most honest.
Where & how to watch
Mah Dar Jangal is available to stream on K-Time with original Persian audio. Watch on the web, on your TV, or on your phone — no VPN needed, no geo-blocking, and no extra download required. Cancel anytime.