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Empty Nets

Play trailer Poster for Empty Nets 2023 1h 41m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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100% Tomatometer 9 Reviews Popcornmeter Fewer than 50 Ratings
Twentysomethings Amir and Narges have found what feels like true love in their hometown by the coast of the Caspian sea. But in today's Iran that's far from enough to build a life together, and they are forced to keep the relationship secret. To win over Narges' upper class family and pay an appropriate dowry, Amir needs money, and he needs it fast. With his back against the wall, Amir finds work at a local fishery, where he is drawn into the dangerous but lucrative business of black market caviar smuggling. As Amir's values are compromised by the illegal underworld, Narges stalls for time and tries to delay the arranged marriage her parents are planning for her. Can their love, hopes and dreams survive the tightly knit web of tradition, corruption, and social hierarchy that continues to rule over the lives of a new generation in Iran?

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Empty Nets

Critics Reviews

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Guy Lodge Variety 07/06/2023
This is a confidently quiet, elegiac first feature from Iranian-German writer-director Karamizade — who brings a certain European arthouse sheen to a story otherwise steeped in the stark modern tradition of Iranian social realism. Go to Full Review Wendy Ide Screen International 07/05/2023
A piercing, powerful debut from Behrooz Karamizade, Empty Nets shines a light on the economic realities of Iran for young people who can barely afford to dream, let alone live. Go to Full Review Frank Scheck The Hollywood Reporter 07/04/2023
Socially conscious neorealism at its best. Go to Full Review Fernando Bernal Cinemanía (Spain) 06/03/2024
4/5
'Empty Nets' becomes a clairvoyant tapestry that registers the evils of society, and where love encounters obstacles that go far beyond one's feelings. [Full review in Spanish] Go to Full Review Joanne Laurier World Socialist Web Site 05/30/2024
Empty Nets is an affecting film. Cinematographer Ashkan Ashkani adds to the strong, suggestive atmosphere, contrasting the natural turbulence of the ocean to the violence of an irrational social order. Go to Full Review Damon Wise Deadline Hollywood Daily 11/16/2023
It's hard-hitting stuff, but Karamizade has a light touch, and his [director of photography], Ashkan Ashkani, gives the film a suitably seductive aquatic-blue palette that reflects its all-consuming vision of a man who's, metaphorically, lost at sea. Go to Full Review Read all reviews
Empty Nets

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Cast & Crew

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Behrooz Karamizade

Director

Hamid Reza Abbasi

Amir

Sadaf Asgari

Narges

Keyvan Mohammadi

Omid

Ali Bagheri

Rahim

Mojtaba Bahmani

Masoud
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Empty Nets

Empty Nets (2023) Empty Nets (2023) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis Twentysomethings Amir and Narges have found what feels like true love in their hometown by the coast of the Caspian sea. But in today's Iran that's far from enough to build a life together, and they are forced to keep the relationship secret. To win over Narges' upper class family and pay an appropriate dowry, Amir needs money, and he needs it fast. With his back against the wall, Amir finds work at a local fishery, where he is drawn into the dangerous but lucrative business of black market caviar smuggling. As Amir's values are compromised by the illegal underworld, Narges stalls for time and tries to delay the arranged marriage her parents are planning for her. Can their love, hopes and dreams survive the tightly knit web of tradition, corruption, and social hierarchy that continues to rule over the lives of a new generation in Iran?
Director
Behrooz Karamizade
Producer
Ansgar Frerich, Eva Kemme, Uschi Feldges
Screenwriter
Behrooz Karamizade, Behrooz Karamizade
Production Co
Rainy Pictures, Arte, Basis Berlin Filmproduktion, Das Kleine Fernsehspiel, Living Pictures Production
Genre
Drama
Original Language
Persian
Runtime
1h 41m
Aspect Ratio
Scope (2.35:1)