ORIGINAL TITLE
Daydreaming Lullabies
Iran | 2026 | 109 min | Drama
Languages
Turkmen
Subtitles Available
English
LOGLINE
In the concrete limbo of an unfinished building in Iran, an Afghan-Turkmen exile drifts through a waking dream. Torn between the urge to save his sister from the Taliban and the temptation to control her fate, he becomes a solitary voyeur of a life he can no longer touch.
SYNOPSIS
In the concrete limbo of an unfinished building in northern Iran, Majid, a displaced Turkmen-Afghan and former philosophy student, lives in self-imposed isolation. After the Taliban’s return, he becomes increasingly consumed by the need to “save” his younger sister, urging her to flee to Iran. Through fragile video calls and imagined responsibility, he begins to project a life onto her, one she has not asked for.
As he wanders a hostile city in search of a home for her, his solitude deepens. Sounds linger, spaces breathe. A nameless woman enters his refuge, first as a voice, then as a presence, disrupting the stillness of his suspended world. Caught between fear and duty, Majid drifts through a waking dream where the boundary between care and control quietly dissolves.
CAST
Kamal Jafari – Majid
Saleheh Noortaqani – Yazgol
CREW
Director & Producer — Ehsan Noortaqani
Writers — Matin Ghelichi, Ehsan Noortaqani
Editors — Sajjad Khatiri, Ehsan Noortaqani
Director of Photography — Damoon Fakhari
Sound Recorder — Habib Mohammadi
Sound Design — Afshin Eshraghi
Set Design — Faezeh Mohammadi
Line Producer — Fereydoun Arabi
Color Grading — Mohammad Salimi
VFX — Omid Yarmohammadi
Press Kit Designer — Elnaz Karimi
DIRECTOR
Ehsan Noortaqani is an independent photographer and filmmaker from Iran. In both his film and photography, he explores the complexities of family and human relationships. He seeks to transform personal narratives and psychological themes into universal social expressions through an artistic form.
He studied photography at Isfahan University of Art in Isfahan, Iran, where he received an Associate Degree in Photography in 2023. He was also honored as an “Outstanding Student” of the Faculty of Visual Arts.
His work spans both filmmaking and photography, with a particular interest in personal narratives, psychological themes and the complexities of human relationships.
Daydreaming Lullabies is his debut feature film and the first independent Turkmen-language feature film in Iranian cinema.
Selected Filmography
Feature Fiction Films:
Daydreaming Lullabies (2026)
Short Documentary Films:
Monochrome Days (2021)
34 min
FESTIVAL HISTORY
FilmFest München (2026)
CONTACT
Sales & Festival Inquiries
[email protected]
HIGHLIGHTS & AWARDS
No awards announced yet.
PRODUCTION INFORMATION
Independent Production
Produced entirely independently in the conservative outskirts of Gonbad, northern Iran, with a micro-budget of approximately $10,000 and a crew of 10 people.
