Director: Rahbar Ghanbari
Cast: Gohar Kheirandish, Omid Zendegani, Hossein Abedini, Zabih Afshar, Yalda Ghashghaiy
Rooiydan Dar Baad is a 2018 Iranian drama film directed by Rahbar Ghanbari, following a fourteen-year-old nomadic boy named Aslan who must balance his end-of-year school exams against the demands of a seasonal tribal migration across rugged Iranian highlands.
What is Rooiydan Dar Baad about?
Aslan is fourteen and caught between two worlds. His tribe follows its ancient migration route through mountain terrain, and every step forward pulls him further from his textbooks. The boy faces a stark choice: stay behind to sit his school exams or walk with his family and tend the flock as tradition demands. Neither path is painless. Along the way he encounters unexpected obstacles — human and natural — that test not only his resolve but his sense of where he truly belongs. The film builds its tension quietly, letting the landscape speak as loudly as any character, and leaves Aslan's future genuinely open.
Cast & crew
The film stars Gohar Kheirandish, one of Iranian cinema's most enduring presences, alongside Omid Zendegani, Hossein Abedini, Zabih Afshar, and Yalda Ghashghaiy. Director Rahbar Ghanbari draws naturalistic performances from the ensemble, grounding the story in the physical reality of nomadic life rather than theatrical heightening.
Context & significance
Films about Iran's nomadic Qashqai and tribal communities occupy a distinct and cherished corner of Persian cinema, stretching back to documentaries of the 1970s and blossoming in social-realist features of the 1990s and 2000s. Rooiydan Dar Baad sits squarely in that tradition, pairing a coming-of-age story with ethnographic honesty about what modernisation asks of rural families. For diaspora viewers who grew up hearing about the kooch — the seasonal migration — from grandparents, this film carries a particular resonance. It is a portrait of a way of life that is quietly disappearing, rendered without sentimentality.
Where & how to watch
Rooiydan Dar Baad is available on K-Time with original Persian audio. No extra download required, no VPN needed, and no geo-blocking — stream from the web, your TV, or your phone. Cancel anytime.