Director: Pouya Saeedi
Cast: Negar Javaherian
Sheyhe is a 2023 Iranian short film directed by Pouya Saeedi, starring Negar Javaherian. Set within the quiet confines of a residential complex, this twenty-minute drama unfolds a tightly wound encounter between two strangers — a pregnant woman and a young boy — that slowly reveals the weight of a hidden truth.
What is Sheyhe Short about?
On an ordinary afternoon in the courtyard of an apartment complex, a pregnant woman crosses paths with a restless young boy whose toy has broken. Acting on a moment of kindness, she invites him inside her home, intending only to mend the toy and send him on his way. But proximity has a way of exposing what people guard most carefully. As the boy looks around her home, he begins picking up on details that do not quite fit the picture she presents. What starts as a simple, neighbourly gesture quietly shifts into something more unsettling — an unexpected confrontation between innocence and a carefully protected secret the woman has been keeping from the world around her.
Cast & crew
Director Pouya Saeedi brings an economy of storytelling well suited to the short format, trusting atmosphere and performance over exposition. Negar Javaherian, one of Iranian cinema's most respected actresses, anchors the film entirely — her physical presence and restrained expressiveness carry the emotional load that the tight runtime demands, making the central revelation land with quiet force.
Context & significance
Short film culture in Iran has long served as a laboratory for the country's most distinctive voices, and Sheyhe sits squarely in that tradition of intimate, dialogue-light storytelling. For diaspora viewers, these small-scale Iranian productions carry particular value: they surface perspectives and social textures rarely visible in mainstream international cinema. A twenty-minute film about pregnancy, privacy, and the vulnerability of domestic space resonates powerfully for Iranian women living abroad, who navigate similar tensions between public presentation and private reality. Javaherian's involvement also signals the film's credibility within the Iranian film community.
Where & how to watch
Sheyhe is available on K-Time with original Persian audio — no dubbing needed, as the film is already in Farsi. Stream it on the web, your TV, or your phone with no VPN required and no geo-blocking. Cancel anytime.