Kamal Tabrizi Movies

The documentary Persian Carpet features contributions from fifteen different Iranian directors who each present a true story about the making of or the importance of the title creations that have a rich history within the country's culture. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

A crook gets a crash course in offering moral guidance in this Iranian comedy. Reza (Parviz Parastui) is a thief known to his underworld cronies as "The Lizard" thanks to his gift for scaling walls and climbing buildings. However, Reza's talent doesn't prevent him from being periodically caught by police; he's sent to a prison where the warden, who regards Reza as morally corrupt, takes it upon himself to torture him into a more spiritually pure state. Reza soon strikes up a friendship with a mullah (an Islamic priest) who offers a more benevolent and humanistic spiritual viewpoint. But, while Reza admires the mullah, that doesn't stop him from taking the holy man's clothes as a disguise for an escape attempt. Reza's plan works, but circumstances dictate that he must continue to pose as a mullah when the over-enthusiastic congregation at a mosque mistake him for their new leader, and he finds himself forced to offer spiritual advice based on his gut feelings rather than any extensive Islamic teachings. A major box-office success in Iran that broke box-office records, Marmoulak (aka The Lizard) also won the audience award at Tehran's Fajr Film Festival. Though popular, the film was increasingly controversial in its home country and was banned in some areas; pressure from clerics, the judiciary, and the Culture Ministry eventually led the filmmakers to withdraw it from theaters in May of 2004 (it had premiered in April and was expected to run until at least July). ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

In this Iranian film, social worker Mina (Fateme Motamed-Aria) tells the reformatory head they should offer genuine emotional feedback to their charges, but she withdraws when the reality of such idealistic proposals becomes evident. Young Medhi (Hussein Soleimani) is troubled after the death of his mother. He views Mina as the mother he needs, but Mina is wary. Shown at the 1998 Fajr Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi