Is Naseredin Shah, Actor-e Cinema a real historical film about the Qajar king?

It is a fictional comedy-fantasy that uses the Qajar king Naser al-Din Shah as a central character, placing him in an invented scenario where he encounters cinema for the first time. It is not a documentary or biographical account.

Koja mishe in filme irani ro online tamasha kard?

You can watch Naseredin Shah, Actor-e Cinema on K-Time. It streams on the web, TV, and phone with no VPN or geo-restriction. Sign up and cancel anytime.

Who directed this film and what other Iranian films is he known for?

Mohsen Makhmalbaf directed this film. He is one of the most recognized directors in Iranian cinema internationally, known for a wide body of work spanning drama, documentary, and experimental forms.

Does the film have English subtitles or Persian subtitles available?

The film plays in original Persian audio on K-Time. Check your viewing settings on the platform for available subtitle options at the time you watch.

Naseredin Shah, Actore Cinema

Name: Naseredin Shah, Actore Cinema
Genre: Comedy, Fantasy, History
Released: 1992
Duration: 92 min
Cast: Ezzatolah Entezami, Mehdi Hashemi, Mohammadali Keshavarz, Akbar Abdi, Dariush Arjmand

Director: Mohsen Makhmalbaf

Cast: Ezzatolah Entezami, Mehdi Hashemi, Mohammadali Keshavarz, Akbar Abdi, Dariush Arjmand

Naseredin Shah, Actor-e Cinema is a 1992 Iranian comedy-fantasy-history film directed by Mohsen Makhmalbaf, presenting a playful meditation on the origins of cinema in Iran through the story of a time-traveling cinematographer who screens early films for the Qajar monarch Naser al-Din Shah.

What is Naseredin Shah, Actore Cinema about?

A man working as a cinematographer wanders through a city searching for a woman named Atieh — a name meaning Future — but his quest takes an unexpected turn when he is suddenly swept backward through time, landing in the 19th-century royal court of Naser al-Din Shah. Seized by the palace guards and brought before the king, he proceeds to screen a series of films drawn from Iran's early cinematic history. The Shah watches in wonder, then enthusiastically summons his family to witness what appears to him an entirely miraculous phenomenon. The film builds its story around this collision between the modern medium of cinema and the pre-modern ruler who encounters it for the first time, exploring how images, memory, and moving pictures intersect with power, curiosity, and imagination.

Cast & crew

Director Mohsen Makhmalbaf, one of the most internationally recognized figures in Iranian cinema, guides a distinguished ensemble. Ezzatolah Entezami, revered across decades of Iranian film and theater, anchors the production alongside Mehdi Hashemi and the versatile Mohammadali Keshavarz. Fatemeh Motamed-Arya, Akbar Abdi, Dariush Arjmand, Mahaya Petrossian, and Parvaneh Massoumi round out the cast.

Context & significance

Released in 1992, this film occupies a singular place in the broader landscape of Iranian art cinema from that decade. Makhmalbaf uses the comic premise of time travel to reflect on the arrival of cinema in Iran — a country where Naser al-Din Shah is historically noted as one of the earliest royal patrons of photography and film. For diaspora audiences, the film offers a window into a pre-revolutionary Persian cultural imagination, one that revisits a Qajar-era court with gentle irony rather than reverence. Its blend of historical setting, fantasy logic, and self-referential meditation on cinema itself gives it an unusual texture among Iranian productions of the period. Viewers who appreciate films that use genre play to examine cultural history will find this a rewarding and distinctive work.

Where & how to watch

Naseredin Shah, Actor-e Cinema is available on K-Time with original Persian audio. Watch on the web, your TV, or your phone — no VPN needed, no geo-blocking, cancel anytime.