The Frog (Iranian TV series)

The Frog

Persian| قورباغه
Genre|

* Mystery
* Drama
* Crime
* Thriller

Created by| Houman Seyyedi
Based on| La Haine (only first episode)
Written by| Houman Seyyedi
Directed by| Houman Seyyedi[1]
Starring|

* Saber Abar
* Navid Mohammadzadeh
* Fereshteh Hosseini
* Sahar Dolatshahi

Narrated by| Saber Abar
Music by| Bamdad Afshar
Composer| Bamdad Afshar
Country of origin| Iran
Original language| Persian
No. of seasons| 1
No. of episodes| 15
Production
Producer| Ali Asadzadeh
Production locations| Iran
Thailand
Cinematography| Peyman Shadman far
Editor| Houman Seyyedi
Running time| 50 minutes
Original release
Network| Home video
Release| December 23, 2020 (2020-12-23) –
March 29, 2021 (2021-03-29)

The Frog (Persian: قورباغه, romanized: Ghoorbāgheh) is an Iranian crime and mystery TV series incorporating magical realism, written, edited and directed by Houman Seyyedi and produced by Ali Asadzadeh, produced in 2020–2021. It is Houman Seyyedi's first episodic project, the first episode of which was supposed to be released on December 15, 2020, but was delayed by a court order. Eventually, the first episode aired on December 23, 2020.[2][3]

## Plot

[edit]

> In The world is a small place for me, I feel closed everywhere and I can not breathe. It's as if I've seen all these moments before, the trees, the sound of the waterfall, the frogs, I see them when I'm dying.[4]

On Chaharshanbe Suri, three friends named Ramin (Saber Abr), Farid (Ashkan Hassanpour), and Javad (Shahrooz Del Afkar) after stealing the weapon of a wounded officer, rob Noori (Navid Mohammadzadeh), Ramin's childhood classmate, who has become a rich and mysterious man...

## Cast

[edit]

Actor  | Character  | Details

|
|

Saber Abar[5] | Ramin Fayazi  | Javad and Farid's friend
Navid Mohammadzadeh | Noori Zarnegar  | Ramin's childhood classmate, gang leader
Sahar Dolatshahi | Faranak Bahrami  | Ramin University colleague, material producer, laboratory employee, Ramin's past mistress
Fereshteh Hosseini | Leila  | Noori's sister, Soroush's love interest
Houman Seyyedi | Amirali Shamsabadi  |
Mohammad Amin Sherbaf  | Soroush Gholipour  | Abad and Nouri's friend, In love with Leila
Nima Mazaheri  | Abad  | Soroush's friend
Mehran Ghafourian  | Kian  |
Anahita Afshar | Negar  | Amirali's wife
Shahrooz Delafkar  | Javad Azizi  | Ramin and Farid's friend
Ashkan Hassanpour  | Farid  | Ramin and Javad's friend
Maneli Rasouli  | Young Leila  |
Esmaeel Soltanian  | Nasser Fayazi  | Ramin's father
Ehsan Amani  |  |
Yadollah Shademani  | Abolfazl Zarnegar  | Noori's father
Omid Mohammadzadeh  | Young Nasser  | Ramin's father in young
Samaneh Moniri  | Young Shahin  | Ramin's mother in young
Peyman Mirzaei  | Hassan  | Aunt Ramin's husband
Ali, Pianist  | Piano player in the movie  |
Youna Tadin  | Young Ramin  |
Moein Shahcheraghi  | Saeed  | Ramin's sister husband
Peyman Pazoki  |  |
Hadi Taslimi[6] | Farhad  | Javad's addicted brother
Amirparviz Tabrizchi  | Foaad  | Leila’s ex
Fatemeh Mortazi  |  |
Vehid Abdullahi  |  |
Nafas Mohammadi  | Nafas, Zari  | Foaad’s sister
Alireza vatan parast  | Ali v  | Piano player in the movie
Sepehr Sepi  | Ali  | Piano player in the movie

## Production

[edit]

The Frog is the first series directed by Houman Seyyedi and is also Navid Mohammadzadeh's first series. Filming started in 2019 and was stopped due to the outbreak of the Coronavirus, filming finished in the summer of 2020 and 15 episodes were produced. The filming of the Frog took about two years.

## Distribution

[edit]

Negotiations were held for the release of the series on Netflix, but no agreement was reached, and the series was finally released on Namava (an Iranian streaming service).[7][8] The first episode of the series is an open interpretation of La Haine.[9] 48 hours after the release of the first episode, the series set a record with 40 million views in Iranian home video.[10][11]

## Episodes

[edit]

Episode number  | Episode title[12] | Episode time  | Date of Release

|
|
|

1  | Africa  | 48 minutes  | 23 December 2020
2  | Kill the dogs  | 52 minutes  | 28 December 2020
3  | The despicable sticking to the column  | 49 minutes  | 4 January 2021
4  | The smell of rotten bitter orange  | 45 minutes  | 11 January 2021
5  | Red balloon  | 45 minutes  | 18 January 2021
6  | Find your seat  | 50 minutes  | 25 January 2021
7  | I found my seat  | 53 minutes  | 1 February 2021
8  | As a reminder, you have a meeting today  | 47 minutes  | 8 February 2021
9  | The cut finger  | 45 minutes  | 15 February 2021
10  | Devil's breath  | 48 minutes  | 22 February 2021
11  | Burn him in fire  | 43 minutes  | 1 March 2021
12  | Private  | 54 minutes  | 8 March 2021
13  | Conspiracy theory  | 53 minutes  | 15 March 2021
14  | Red tears  | 44 minutes  | 22 March 2021
15 (The Final Episode)  | The Frog  | 72 minutes  | 29 March 2021

## Reception

[edit]

### Critical response

[edit]

Massoud Farasati criticized the series in Haft program and said:

> In my opinion, The Frog is not so bad. I think we can talk about this series and especially about directing. I think Seyyedi is ahead of his previous film, but its script is weak.[13]

Brian O’Shea, CEO of The Exchange:

> Houman is an undeniable talent and rising star. His award-winning features honed his incredible eye and ability to pace a suspenseful story and build a complex world filled that entertains audiences that love all genres. We are incredibly happy to bring this amazing series to the rest of the world. Much like Fauda, Elite, and others, this foreign language series is primed to take the world by storm.[14]

### Awards and nominations

[edit]

Year  | Award  | Category  | Recipient  | Result  | Ref.

|
|
|
|
|

2021  | 21st Hafez Awards | Best Television Series  | The Frog  | resigned  | [15]
Best Director – Television Series  | Houman Seyyedi | resigned
Best Screenplay – Television Series  | Houman Seyyedi | resigned
Best Actor – Television Series Drama  | Saber Abar | resigned
Navid Mohammadzadeh | resigned
Best Actress – Television Series Drama  | Fereshteh Hosseini | resigned
Sahar Dolatshahi | resigned
2022  | 1st Iranian Cinema Directors' Great Celebration  | Best Home Video Director  | Houman Seyyedi | Nominated  |

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "دربارهٔ سریال قورباغه". ghoorbaghe.com (in Persian). 2018-08-25. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
2. ^ "دانلود سریال قورباغه - سایت". سایت سریال قورباغه (in Persian). Archived from the original on 2021-04-19. Retrieved 2021-03-06.
3. ^ "پخش سریال "قورباغه" با دستور قضایی متوقف شد". مشرق نیوز (in Persian). 2020-12-14. Retrieved 2021-03-06.
4. ^ "The Frog". www.namava.ir. Retrieved 2021-03-22.
5. ^ "چگونه قسمت سوم سریال قورباغه را دانلود کنیم - ایسنا". www.isna.ir.
6. ^ "هادی تسلیمی بازیگر نقش فرهاد در سریال قورباغه". پایگاه خبری هنر نوشت (in Persian). Retrieved 2021-01-06.
7. ^ "احتمال حضور سریال ایرانی قورباغه روی نتفلیکس". ویجیاتو (in Persian). 2020-06-23. Retrieved 2021-03-06.
8. ^ "دانلود سریال قورباغه". ایسنا (in Persian). 2020-12-12. Retrieved 2021-03-06.
9. ^ Behnegarsoft.com (2021-03-01). "آشنایی کامل با سریال قورباغه". جهان نيوز (in Persian). Retrieved 2021-03-06.
10. ^ "رکوردشکنی سریال "قورباغه"". مملکت‌آنلاین (in Persian). Retrieved 2021-03-06.
11. ^ "سریال قورباغه با ۴۰ میلیون دقیقه تماشا در ۴۸ ساعت رکورد زد". ویجیاتو (in Persian). 2020-12-27. Retrieved 2021-03-06.
12. ^ The Frog (TV Series 2020– ) - IMDb, retrieved 2021-02-08
13. ^ "نقد مسعود فراستی بر سریال "قورباغه"". خبرآنلاین (in Persian). 2021-03-13. Retrieved 2021-03-13.
14. ^ Wiseman, Andreas (2021-06-11). "The Exchange To Sell Hit Iranian TV Series 'The Frog' During Cannes Market". Deadline. Retrieved 2021-06-13.
15. ^ "نامزدهای بخش تلویزیون بیست و یکمین جشن حافظ چه کسانی هستند؟". خبرگزاری برنا (in Persian). Retrieved 2021-11-14.

## External links

[edit]

* Official website
* The Frog at IMDb

*[No.]: Number