Treasures from the Golestan Film Studio Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		5.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		5.0

Treasures from the Golestan Film Studio Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman September 3, 2026

Treasures from the Golestan Film Studio may well be one of the most distinctive examples of Radiance Films' curating of various international cinemas if for no other reason than the relative lack of renown for the studio's eponymous director, other than in the expected populations of "discerning cineastes". Ebrahim Golestan's biography is as fascinating as the two main features (the only two narrative features in Golestan's filmography) aggregated together (along with a bevy of shorts), but suffice it to say he was Iran's version of a Hollywood mogul like Samuel Goldwyn, founding his own studio, the first independent such operation in Iran. Rather interestingly, though, Golestan's early efforts were documentaries, including some about Iran's burgeoning oil industry, efforts which ostensibly made him a kind of quasi-propagandist for the Shah's then relatively new reign. The actual fact of the matter, as demonstrated more than capably in both Brick and Mirror and perhaps especially in Secrets of the Jinn Valley, is that Golestan was very much a revolutionary, or considering what amounted to the coup d'état which installed the Shah and ousted a democratically elected Prime Minister, an anti-revolutionary who did not suffer what had happened to his country gladly. As a supplement by Ehsan Khoshbakht in this set overtly mentions, the Shah's installation was arranged jointly by the CIA and MI6, and native Iranians have evidently never forgotten it, which may add some unexpected context to current world events.

For reviews of the two feature films in this set, please click on the following links:

Brick and Mirror Blu-ray review

Secrets of the Jinn Valley Treasure Blu-ray review

A third disc in this set aggregates some short documentaries by Golestan, which are detailed below in the supplements section.

Treasures from the Golestan Film Studio Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Video quality is assessed in the above linked reviews.

Treasures from the Golestan Film Studio Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Audio quality is assessed in the above linked reviews.

Treasures from the Golestan Film Studio Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Supplements accompanying the two above linked feature films are detailed in the appropriate reviews. This set also comes with a third disc containing the following material:

Shorts from the Golestan Film Studio

• Ebrahim Golestan's Earthly Songs features a quartet of Golestan's early documentaries:

Wave, Coral and Rock (HD; 40:46)




The Hills of Marlik (HD; 14:55)




The Crown Jewels of Iran (HD; 14:06)




Harvest and Seed (HD; 29:16)


The latter two described are as "astonishingly subversive".

• The Cinema of Forough Farrokhzad offers a trio of shorts by Iran's greatest modernist poet and personal and professional partner to Golestan.

A Fire (HD; 25:01) was edited by Farrokhzad.




Courtship (HD; 11:05) features a performance by Farrokhzad.




The House is Black (HD; 21:55) was directed by Farrokhzad.

Special Features

• Ehsan Khoshbakht on the Cinema of Forough Farrokhzad (HD; 17:50)


• Ehsan Khoshbakht on Ebrahim Golestan's Earthly Songs (HD; 10:22)

Radiance sent check discs for purposes of the set's reviews, but their website mentions their typical assortment of packaging accoutrements.

Treasures from the Golestan Film Studio Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Radiance has really been on a tear lately with some incredibly interesting releases, and being able to see Ebrahim Golestan's only two narrative features along with a slew of shorts is really an early holiday present for, well, "discerning cineastes". Highly recommended.