Official Trailer

Black background with white text reading 'Coming Soon'.

Director

Mary Darling

Co-Directors

Bre Vader

Felicia Sobhani

Producers

Payam Zamani

Shahin Sobhani

Produced by

Steven Solomos

Panos Kouanis

Mary Darling

Clark Donnelly

Writers

Mary Darling

Clark Donnelly

Co-Writers

Bre Vader

Tal Bolin

Noam Jenkins

Starring

Parmiss Sehat

Behtash Fazlali

Anthony Azizi

Shirin Youssefian Maanian

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What happens when silence is safer, but truth is the only path to freedom?

Behind the Scenes

Cast Aside the Clouds was made through a deeply collaborative, cross-border effort—filmed in Greece and Iran. Every scene was crafted with care by a team committed to honoring real stories, and the quiet courage behind them.

Film crew filming on the beach at night, with two women lying on the ground in the background, one in focus and one slightly blurred. A clapperboard with a digital time display is held near the woman in focus.

The cast and crew really pulled together for this beach scene. Working with two local actors, playing young Layla and Sana, was a real treat. The waves crashed so loudly that night, it was hard to hear one another, but something deeper carried the scene forward.

In this moment, Sana’s voice reaches Layla from another realm—offering comfort at her darkest moment. The energy on set reminded us how belief can move through even the loudest noise and darkest nights.

A man in motorcycle gear holding a helmet, standing in front of a vehicle carrying film equipment.

While filming in Athens, many of our extras were recent arrivals to Greece—some of whom had lived through the very forms of displacement and repression the film explores. Hearing their stories in moments between takes reminded us that every frame we captured was rooted in real-world experiences of endurance and hope.

A woman and a man in conversation, the woman is wearing glasses, headphones around her neck, and holding a notebook, while the man has a beard, wearing a black leather jacket, and holding a folder, outside a building with a yellow sign and some plants in the background.

Much of the film’s heart was shaped in conversations off-camera. Together with the cast and crew, we continually explored how bias, fear, and silence can cloud our ability to truly see one another.

“Casting aside the clouds” became more than just a title—it was a shared commitment to unlearning inherited beliefs and choosing instead to see through a compassionate lens.