Seven friends, one promise, and the years that test both: Ziafat (The Banquet) brings director Masud Kimiai — whose cinema has circled questions of friendship and loyalty since the late 1960s — to the story of a reunion that turns into a rescue.
What is Ziafat about?
Back in their student days, seven close companions swore an oath that no matter where life carried them, they would gather again on an agreed date. When that day finally comes, six keep the appointment. The absent one is Ramin, who has built a career as a lawyer for a company — and who has stumbled into serious trouble along the way. With danger closing in, he vanishes into hiding and sends his wife to the gathering in his place. Her arrival changes the meaning of the banquet: the six men must decide what their old vow is actually worth, and how far they are willing to go for a friend whose predicament belongs to a rougher world than the one they shared as boys. What begins as a nostalgic get-together shifts, scene by scene, into a tense drama of loyalty put to the test.
About the cast
Fariborz Arabnia heads the ensemble in one of the mid-1990s roles that cemented his screen presence, joined by Behzad Khodaveisi and a young Parsa Pirouzfar, then near the start of a career that would make him one of Iran's most recognisable leading men. The chemistry among the group carries the film's central idea — a brotherhood formed young and re-examined in adulthood.
Context & significance
Released in 1996, Ziafat arrived at a moment when Kimiai — a defining figure of Iranian cinema since the New Wave era — was turning his long-running themes of male friendship, honour and obligation toward the concerns of a new generation. The film spoke directly to young Iranians of the 1990s, framing their loyalties and anxieties inside the director's signature moral universe, where a promise made is a debt owed. At 84 minutes, it moves briskly, blending the tones of drama and action that run through much of Kimiai's filmography.
Watching Ziafat on K-Time
Ziafat is available to stream on K-Time once you log in with a free account; browsing this page requires no login at all. Built Farsi-first for the Iranian diaspora, K-Time presents the film in its original Persian, within an interface designed for Persian-speaking households everywhere.