'Lovers Sleep Alone' to Premiere at San Sebastian on Sept. 25

A queer Iranian exile trying to stay invisible in Berlin will step into the spotlight on Sept. 25.

That is when Lovers Sleep Alone, directed by Massih Parsaei, premieres at the San Sebastian International Film Festival, The Hollywood Reporter reported. The Berlin-set drama will compete in New Directors, the festival's programme for emerging film-makers.

The story follows Iman, 33, played by Pooyesh Frozandeh in his first feature film role. He is isolated. He works two hard-labour jobs, as a caregiver for an old man and at a truck wash.

His careful routine breaks when his cousin Maneli visits from Tehran. Parsaei described Iman as a queer man in exile, living far from home and holding his private life close.

The screenplay is by Parsaei and Hanna Thomschke. Frozandeh co-stars with Ava Darvishi and Marcel Kohler.

The film is a Film Five GmbH production in co-production with the Konrad Wolf Film University of Babelsberg. It was funded by Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg and Rundfunk Berlin Brandenburg as part of the Leuchtstoff initiative for young talent, with additional support from the Young Talent Foundation Berlin.

For audiences, this means a small production with public backing. Leuchtstoff supports first and second features from the Berlin-Brandenburg region, pairing new directors with local companies and broadcasters.

San Sebastian runs Sept. 18-26 this year. Lovers Sleep Alone arrives as a German film with a runtime of 87 minutes, according to the festival listing, San Sebastian Festival. It is Parsaei's debut feature. The Tehran-born director, born in 1992, previously brought the project to the festival's WIP Europa 2025 works-in-progress showcase.

What makes this stand out is the route to the screen. From a student-linked co-production to a competition slot in Spain, it is a short path.

An exclusive clip from the film was unveiled alongside the premiere announcement. The festival screens the film near the close of its nine-day run.