Director: Mohammadreza Yekani
Cast: در فیلم تولد، دختر بچهای خود و خانواده را برای تولد پدرش آماده میکند، اما اوضاع جور دیگری رقم میخورد…
Tavalod is a 2016 Iranian short drama film directed by Mohammadreza Yekani, running approximately thirteen minutes. Set around a family birthday celebration, it tells a quiet, intimate story about a young girl's preparations for her father's special day — and the unexpected turn those plans take.
What is Tavalod about?
A little girl wakes up with one purpose on her mind: making her father's birthday perfect. She rallies those around her, helping prepare the small details that turn an ordinary day into something meaningful. Yet circumstances unfold differently from what she imagined, pulling the family through a moment that is at once tender and surprising. Yekani keeps the camera close to the child's perspective, letting her innocence and earnest effort carry the emotional weight. What begins as a simple celebration quietly reveals something deeper about family bonds and the gap between a child's expectations and grown-up realities — all within a remarkably compact running time.
Cast & crew
The film features Saeed Noorollahi and Elham Vafamehr in the adult roles, with Saina Sarhangian and Maede Najafi as the young leads. Director Mohammadreza Yekani works within the Iranian short-film tradition of centering children's viewpoints to illuminate universal domestic emotions with restraint and warmth.
Context & significance
Iranian short cinema has long been a proving ground for filmmakers who want to say something true and immediate without the weight of a feature. Films like Tavalod belong to a lineage of intimate family portraits — quiet, close-quarter stories about children navigating the adult world — that have won Iranian directors international recognition. For diaspora audiences, these short dramas carry a particular resonance: the rituals of home, the texture of a Tehran apartment, the cadence of family life that emigration cannot fully erase. A birthday story translates across every culture, yet in the Iranian context it carries layers of warmth, obligation, and love that feel distinctly familiar to anyone who grew up in that world.
Where & how to watch
Tavalod is available to stream on K-Time. The film is in original Persian audio without subtitles. Watch on your web browser, TV, or phone — no extra download, no VPN, and no geo-blocking. Subscribe and cancel anytime.