diff --git a/pysam/libcalignmentfile.pxd b/pysam/libcalignmentfile.pxd
index cd0ebf83..b59cbdef 100644
--- a/pysam/libcalignmentfile.pxd
+++ b/pysam/libcalignmentfile.pxd
@@ -99,6 +99,13 @@ cdef class IteratorRowSelection(IteratorRow):
     cdef int cnext(self)
 
 
+cdef class IteratorRowFilter(IteratorRow):
+    cdef int flag_filter
+    cdef int flag_require
+    cdef bam1_t * getCurrent(self)
+    cdef int cnext(self)
+
+
 cdef class IteratorColumn:
 
     # result of the last plbuf_push
diff --git a/pysam/libcalignmentfile.pyi b/pysam/libcalignmentfile.pyi
index 6f106af9..228f4f98 100644
--- a/pysam/libcalignmentfile.pyi
+++ b/pysam/libcalignmentfile.pyi
@@ -165,6 +165,12 @@ class AlignmentFile(HTSFile):
     def find_introns(
         self, read_iterator: Iterable[AlignedSegment]
     ) -> Dict[Tuple[int, int], int]: ...
+    def filter(
+        self,
+        flag_filter: int = ...,
+        flag_require: int = ...,
+        multiple_iterators: bool = ...,
+    ) -> IteratorRowFilter: ...
     def close(self) -> None: ...
     def write(self, read: AlignedSegment) -> int: ...
     def __enter__(self) -> AlignmentFile: ...
@@ -202,6 +208,7 @@ class IteratorRowAllRefs(IteratorRow): ...
 class IteratorRowHead(IteratorRow): ...
 class IteratorRowRegion(IteratorRow): ...
 class IteratorRowSelection(IteratorRow): ...
+class IteratorRowFilter(IteratorRow): ...
 
 class IteratorColumn:
     def __iter__(self) -> IteratorColumn: ...
diff --git a/pysam/libcalignmentfile.pyx b/pysam/libcalignmentfile.pyx
index dc8cadd0..61eae02d 100644
--- a/pysam/libcalignmentfile.pyx
+++ b/pysam/libcalignmentfile.pyx
@@ -1663,6 +1663,30 @@ cdef class AlignmentFile(HTSFile):
                     res[(junc_start, base_position)] += 1
         return res
 
+    def filter(self, **kwargs):
+        """iterate and filter segments in the file.
+
+        Parameters
+        ----------
+
+        flag_filter : int
+
+           ignore reads where any of the bits in the flag are set. The default 
+           is BAM_FUNMAP | BAM_FSECONDARY | BAM_FQCFAIL | BAM_FDUP.
+
+        flag_require : int
+
+           only use reads where certain flags are set. The default is 0.
+
+        Returns
+        -------
+
+        an iterator over filtered rows. : IteratorRowFilter
+
+        """
+        if not self.is_open:
+            raise ValueError("I/O operation on closed file")
+        return IteratorRowFilter(self, **kwargs)
 
     def close(self):
         '''closes the :class:`pysam.AlignmentFile`.'''
@@ -2323,6 +2347,59 @@ cdef class IteratorRowSelection(IteratorRow):
             raise IOError(read_failure_reason(ret))
 
 
+cdef class IteratorRowFilter(IteratorRow):
+    """*(AlignmentFile samfile, int flag_filter = BAM_FUNMAP | BAM_FSECONDARY | BAM_FQCFAIL | BAM_FDUP, int flag_require = 0, bool multiple_iterators=False)*
+
+    iterates over reads that have none of the given flags set.
+
+    .. note::
+        It is usually not necessary to create an object of this class
+        explicitly. It is returned as a result of call to a :meth:`AlignmentFile.filter`.
+    """
+    def __init__(
+        self, 
+        AlignmentFile samfile, 
+        int flag_filter = BAM_FUNMAP | BAM_FSECONDARY | BAM_FQCFAIL | BAM_FDUP, 
+        int flag_require = 0,
+        bint multiple_iterators=True
+    ):
+        super().__init__(samfile, multiple_iterators=multiple_iterators)
+
+        self.flag_filter = flag_filter
+        self.flag_require = flag_require
+
+    def __iter__(self):
+        return self
+
+    cdef bam1_t* getCurrent(self):
+        return self.b
+
+    cdef int cnext(self):
+        '''cversion of iterator. Used by IteratorColumn'''
+        cdef int ret
+        cdef bam_hdr_t * hdr = self.header.ptr
+        with nogil:
+            while 1:
+                ret = sam_read1(self.htsfile, hdr, self.b)
+                if ret < 0:
+                    break
+                if self.b.core.flag & self.flag_filter:
+                    continue
+                elif self.flag_require and not (self.b.core.flag & self.flag_require):
+                    continue
+                break
+        return ret
+
+    def __next__(self):
+        cdef int ret = self.cnext()
+        if ret >= 0:
+            return makeAlignedSegment(self.b, self.header)
+        elif ret == -1:
+            raise StopIteration
+        else:
+            raise IOError(read_failure_reason(ret))
+
+
 cdef int __advance_nofilter(void *data, bam1_t *b):
     '''advance without any read filtering.
     '''
diff --git a/tests/AlignmentFile_test.py b/tests/AlignmentFile_test.py
index 0d599df3..dc5340ba 100644
--- a/tests/AlignmentFile_test.py
+++ b/tests/AlignmentFile_test.py
@@ -2411,7 +2411,52 @@ def test_reading_writing_cram(self):
         return
         read = self.build_read()
         self.check_read(read, mode="cram")
-        
+
+
+class TestAlignmentFileFilter(unittest.TestCase):
+
+    filename = os.path.join(BAM_DATADIR, 'ex1.bam')
+    mode = "rb"
+
+    def testNoFilter(self):
+        with pysam.AlignmentFile(self.filename, self.mode) as samfile1:
+            total = 0
+            for read in samfile1:
+                total += 1
+        with pysam.AlignmentFile(self.filename, self.mode) as samfile2:
+            n2 = 0
+            for read in samfile2.filter(flag_filter=0):
+                n2 += 1
+        self.assertEqual(total, n2)
+
+    def testMapped(self):
+        with pysam.AlignmentFile(self.filename, self.mode) as samfile1:
+            n1 = 0
+            total = 0
+            for read in samfile1:
+                n1 += read.is_mapped
+                total += 1
+        self.assertLessEqual(n1, total)
+        with pysam.AlignmentFile(self.filename, self.mode) as samfile2:
+            n2 = 0
+            for read in samfile2.filter(flag_filter=pysam.FUNMAP):
+                n2 += 1
+        self.assertEqual(n1, n2)
+
+    def testUnmapped(self):
+        with pysam.AlignmentFile(self.filename, self.mode) as samfile1:
+            n1 = 0
+            total = 0
+            for read in samfile1:
+                n1 += not read.is_mapped
+                total += 1
+        self.assertLessEqual(n1, total)
+        with pysam.AlignmentFile(self.filename, self.mode) as samfile2:
+            n2 = 0
+            for read in samfile2.filter(flag_filter=0, flag_require=pysam.FUNMAP):
+                n2 += 1
+        self.assertEqual(n1, n2)
+
 # SAM writing fails, as query length is 0
 # class TestSanityCheckingSAM(TestSanityCheckingSAM):
 #     mode = "w"