A devastating 1977 portrait of love and longing in a country built on fear and surveillance, based on a story by Anton Chekhov.

Dead End is one of the most prescient films to come out of late-1970s Iran. When a starry-eyed young woman notices a man standing under her window day and night, she becomes convinced he’s in love with her. While she fantasises about their happy union, reality has crueler plans in mind. The ensemble cast is memorable, especially real-life mother and daughter Mary Apick and Apick Youssefian, as well as Bahman Zarrinpour.

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Iranian New Wave: 1962–79 and the original film program it is based on are curated by Ehsan Khoshbakht, Codirector, Il Cinema Ritrovato, with Joshua Siegel, Curator, and La Frances Hui, Curator, Department of Film, The Museum of Modern Art, New York.

Digital presentation courtesy of the UCLA Film & Television Archive.