Massih Parsaei’s directorial debut ‘Lovers Sleep Alone’ is set to premiere on Sept. 25 at the San Sebastian Film Festival, where it will compete in the New Directors selection. The Berlin-set drama stars Pooyesh Frozandeh in his first feature film role as Iman, a character caught between isolation and the search for human connection.
The film, developed from a screenplay by Parsaei and Hanna Thomschke, centers on a protagonist who has structured his life in the German capital around various forms of absence—from his family, his home country, and his former identity. The narrative tracks Iman’s daily existence as he works multiple jobs, including caregiving and employment at a truck wash, while navigating encounters with strangers and filling emotional voids through invented narratives and fleeting sexual encounters. The arrival of his cousin from Tehran becomes a catalyst that brings Iman’s past circumstances back into sharp focus.
Parsaei, who drew from his personal experiences of displacement and exile, described the film as an exploration of the liminal space between two worlds. He emphasized his intent to document Iman’s experiences without providing explanatory context about his suffering or presenting a redemptive narrative arc. Instead, the filmmaker sought to capture the character’s daily existence and the emotional landscape underlying his routines.
The production involved Film Five GmbH alongside Konrad Wolf Film University of Babelsberg, with financial support from Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, Rundfunk Berlin Brandenburg’s Leuchtstoff initiative, and the Young Talent Foundation Berlin. The cast also includes Ava Darvishi, an Iranian performer and theatre practitioner, and Marcel Kohler, a German actor. The San Sebastian International Film Festival runs Sept. 18-26.
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