Orca

This beautifully shot and masterfully directed biopic revolves around real-life Iranian swimmer Elham Asghari and her struggles to set an unprecedented record of swimming kilometres in the sea, in a country where women are deprived of their most basic human rights and female athletes are obliged to follow the most ridiculously complicated regulations regarding their clothes and posture. Set in contemporary Iran, Elham is denied by the swimming federation of Iran to have broken an actual record when women are now allowed to do so, based on Islamic governing rules as it is referred to multiple times during the movie. Elham, therefore, embarks on a journey headed towards breaking a Guinness record and becoming the first Iranian to achieve such honour. While on this journey of hers, she comes across charitable ethnic characters in the south of Iran ( where she breaks her Guinness record ), allowing us to become familiar with their rich culture and heritage. It is, also, worth highlighting that Taraneh Alidoosti ( the star of academy-award-winning film The Salesman by Asghar Farhadi ) once again shines as the legendary actress she is, conveying Elham's struggles and emotions throughout the most dramatic scenes of the film.