Director: Manijeh Hekmat

Cast: Roya Nonahali, Roya Taymourian, Pegah Ahangarani, Golab Adineh, Maryam Boubani

Zendan-e Zanan (Women's Prison) is a 2002 Iranian drama film directed by Manijeh Hekmat, set inside a women's correctional facility over eighteen years and exploring how power, punishment, and unexpected compassion reshape two women on opposite sides of prison walls.

What is Zendan-e Zanan about?

A hardened female warden — a war veteran shaped by the Iraq front — arrives at the prison carrying rigid convictions about discipline and order. Among her charges is Mitra, a young midwife imprisoned for ending the life of her mother's violent husband. The warden's determination to break Mitra's spirit drives the first half of the story, including harrowing episodes during Iraqi bombing raids when Mitra defies the chaos to bring a new life into the world. After eight years of conflict, a pivotal moment arrives: Mitra stands between a vulnerable newcomer and serious harm, and the warden witnesses something she cannot dismiss. By 1991, when the infant born inside those walls returns as a troubled teenager, the relationship between the two women has transformed in ways neither could have predicted.

Cast & crew

Director Manijeh Hekmat was one of very few women behind the camera in Iranian cinema at that time, and her control of a largely female ensemble is assured throughout. Roya Nonahali anchors the film as the iron-willed warden. Roya Taymourian brings quiet stubbornness to Mitra. Pegah Ahangarani and Golab Adineh give weight to the supporting roles, and Maryam Boubani rounds out a cast that keeps the emotional stakes grounded.

Context & significance

Iranian women's prison dramas carry a particular charge for diaspora audiences who understand how institutional authority shaped daily life before and after the revolution. Hekmat's film earned serious international attention at a moment when few Iranian directors — male or female — were willing to examine the interior world of a women's correctional facility with this much candour. The story spans a formative period in modern Iranian history, weaving the Iran-Iraq War into the daily rhythms of incarceration. For Persian-speaking viewers abroad, the film's central question — whether people in rigid systems can grow toward each other — resonates long after the credits roll.

Where & how to watch

Zendan-e Zanan is available on K-Time with original Persian audio. No VPN is needed and there is no geo-blocking — watch on a web browser, Android TV, or your phone. Subscribe and cancel anytime.