Shirin va Farhad (Ferhat ile Şirin (film, 1970))

A 1970 Turkish-Iranian co-production directed by Iranian filmmaker Esmail Koushan, this romantic drama adapts the celebrated folk romance of Farhad and Shirin and was shot in both Turkish and Persian. Cüneyt Arkın stars as Ferhat, with Niloofar (Nilüfer) as his beloved Şirin.

Şirin's sister Meryem wants to marry her off to the king to secure his protection, but Şirin loves the young blacksmith Ferhat. When soldiers attack Şirin, King Hüsrev saves her while concealing his identity; the people, mistaking him for a spy, wound him, and Ferhat rescues and tends to him, forging a bond between the two men. Meryem has the fleeing lovers captured: Ferhat is thrown into a dungeon and Şirin is sent to the palace, where Hüsrev falls for her and even asks Ferhat to win her heart for him. Ferhat volunteers to pierce the mountain to bring water to the parched city. There Meryem's henchman Rahsane lies that Şirin has died; heartbroken, Ferhat keeps digging until a collapse kills him. Unable to bear the loss, Şirin dies beside him, and the lovers' souls are united in eternity.