Director: Asghar Farhadi
Cast: Faramarz Gharibian, Yousef Khodaparast, Baran Kosari
Raghs Dar Ghobar (Dancing in the Dust) is an Iranian drama film directed by Asghar Farhadi, marking his feature debut. Set against the hardscrabble margins of Iranian society, the film follows its characters through a web of desperate choices, fractured relationships, and the quiet weight of poverty.
What is Raghs Dar Ghobar about?
A young man named Nazar finds himself trapped in a marriage that unravels almost as soon as it begins. When his wife is forced out of their home by the shadow of her past — a secret her family never disclosed — Nazar is left with a debt he cannot pay and a shame he cannot outrun. To scrape together the money he owes, he takes a job transporting a large snake across the desert alongside an older, weathered man named Ali. The road journey strips away pretense and forces both men to confront what they have lost and what little they still have to hold on to. Farhadi roots the drama in spare, observational realism, letting silence and landscape carry the emotional weight rather than melodrama.
Cast & crew
The film stars Faramarz Gharibian, a veteran of Iranian cinema known for bringing quiet gravitas to working-class roles, alongside Yousef Khodaparast as the younger Nazar. Baran Kosari, who would later become one of Iran's most prominent screen actresses, appears in an early role that already signals her emotional range and screen presence.
Context & significance
Raghs Dar Ghobar arrived as the debut feature of Asghar Farhadi, who would go on to become Iran's most internationally celebrated filmmaker, winning two Academy Awards for A Separation and The Salesman. Watching this early work is a rare chance to trace the roots of his signature style — elliptical storytelling, moral ambiguity, and a documentary-like attention to the textures of ordinary Iranian life. For diaspora viewers, the film offers both a window into the Iran of that era and a record of a director still finding his voice, making it a meaningful companion piece to his better-known later films.
Where & how to watch
Raghs Dar Ghobar is available on K-Time with Persian audio. Watch on the web browser, your TV, or your phone with no VPN needed and no geo-blocking — subscribe and cancel anytime.