Director: Hosein Torkjoosh
Cast: Neda Maghsoudi, Mahsa Ghoreishi, Bita Aalami, Maedeh Jafari, Saeideh Jamshidi
Naji is a 2022 Iranian short drama film directed by Hosein Torkjoosh, running approximately 18 minutes. It follows a young Iranian woman as she weighs her passion for competitive cycling against the social expectations that accompany approaching marriage.
What is Naji about?
A young woman with serious athletic ambitions finds herself caught between two competing pulls. On one side is the track — the discipline, the training, the identity she has built around competitive cycling. On the other side is the expectation that marriage is the next chapter, a transition that carries its own set of pressures and obligations. The film uses its short runtime to sketch the tension with precision, observing its protagonist as she navigates the space between personal aspiration and the weight of convention. No dramatic resolution is handed to the viewer; instead, the film holds the contradiction open, letting the central figure exist fully within it.
Cast & crew
The film is directed by Hosein Torkjoosh. The cast includes Neda Maghsoudi, Mahsa Ghoreishi, Bita Aalami, Maedeh Jafari, Saeideh Jamshidi, and Odin Roshan. The ensemble is drawn from Iranian screen talent, and the compact cast suits the film's intimate, character-focused format.
Context & significance
Iranian short cinema has long served as a space where emerging directors work with restricted budgets and compressed runtimes to explore social themes in concentrated form. Naji fits within a tradition of Iranian films that examine women's lives — their desires, their constraints, and the negotiation between the two — through observational, restrained storytelling. For diaspora audiences, the film offers a window into a specific social texture: the collision between individual aspiration and collective expectation that many Iranian families recognize across generations and geographies. Its 18-minute length makes it accessible as a standalone short or as an introduction to contemporary Iranian short-form cinema.
Where & how to watch
Naji is available to stream on K-Time. The film is presented in its original Persian audio without separate subtitles listed. Watch on the web, on your TV, or on your phone — no VPN needed, no geo-blocking, cancel anytime.