Director: Mazdak Abedini
Cast: Afsar Asadi, Hamid Reza Pegah, Mazdak Mirabedini, Neda Saremi Monfared, Negar Abedi
Raghse Paa (Foot Dance) is a 2017 Iranian family-social film directed by Mazdak Abedini, running 80 minutes and set against the ordinary pressures of urban life in Tehran — a quiet, grounded portrait of a young couple building a life from scratch.
What is Raghse Paa about?
Mohammad Ali, an actor and filmmaker by trade, returns to Iran hoping to settle down and start fresh alongside his wife Mitra, a painter with her own aspirations. Their search for a home in a crowded, expensive city proves far harder than either expected. Beneath the logistical struggle, the film traces the quiet negotiations of a marriage — two creative people with independent ambitions sharing the same uncertainty. When the prospect of a child enters the picture, every difficulty acquires new urgency. The story stays close to domestic detail, finding its tension not in grand drama but in the compounding weight of everyday obstacles.
Cast & crew
The film stars Afsar Asadi and Hamid Reza Pegah as the central couple, supported by Mazdak Mirabedini, Neda Saremi Monfared, and Negar Abedi. Director Mazdak Abedini, who previously developed the project under the working title Snail, both wrote and directed the film, giving it a personal, observational quality.
Context & significance
For Iranian diaspora viewers, Raghse Paa touches a familiar nerve — the tension between creative ambition and the stubborn practicalities of city life, a struggle many experienced firsthand before emigrating. Housing pressures, the cost of raising a family, and the juggling of artistic identity with domestic responsibility are themes that resonate across borders. The film belongs to a long tradition of Iranian social cinema that finds its power in understatement, using an ordinary couple's predicament to illuminate broader realities of life in contemporary Tehran. It is understated and human-scaled, the kind of film that rewards patient viewers.
Where & how to watch
Raghse Paa is available on K-Time with Persian audio — no extra download, no VPN, and no geo-blocking for diaspora viewers. Stream it on the web, a TV, or your phone. Subscribe and cancel anytime.