Explore LA’s gritty underworld in ‘The Persian Connection’

Daniel Grove’s neon-noir The Persian Connection was acquired by Samuel Goldwyn and stars Reza Sixo Safai (A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, A Better Place Than This) in the lead, alongside Parviz Sayyad (The Mission, The Suitor), one of the most recognized actors of pre-revolutionary Iran, along with Julian Sands (The Killing Fields, Leaving Las Vegas).

The Persian Connection follows the life of Behrouz, a former child soldier who survived the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s. Two decades later, he finds himself in the bustling, neon-soaked streets of Los Angeles hoping to chase the American Dream and become a “Real Estate Man”.

Haunted by his memories, the film confronts drug and gambling addictions as Behrouz enters the seedy underbelly of Los Angeles, eventually finding himself caught in the middle of a conflict between the Iranian and Russian mafias.

“The Persian Connection is an artistic take on a modern gangster film,” said Peter Goldwyn, president of Samuel Goldwyn Films. “Daniel’s imagining of the gritty side of Tehrangeles is a unique world from a neon lens.”

The first feature debut from Daniel Grove, who previously wrote and directed short films A Better Place Than This and Lonely Planet, the action-thriller is said to balance “action and violence with a bold visual style, while sensitively portraying Behrouz’s troubled past and present”.