Sunday, September 14, 2025

Most Iranians Have Never Been to the Movies, Culture Minister Says

There are no movie theaters in nearly 1,000 cities in Iran, the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) has reported, citing Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Abbas Salehi. “According to a recent study, nearly 88...

Iranian Director Ghanizadeh Dedicates Award to Slain Protester Pooya Bakhtiari 

By Azadeh Karimi Iranian film and stage director Homayoun Ghanizadeh, whose 2019 film “The Clown” won the top prize in the “Exceptional Talent and Creative” section of the “13th Gathering of Screenwriters and Film Critics”,...

Shirin Neshat Talks About Her Latest Film: A Tribute to Oum Kulthum

By Ahmad Rafat Shirin Neshat – the Iranian visual artist and filmmaker who won the Silver Lion award for best director at the 2009 Venice International Film Festival for "Women Without Men" – was in...

Letter from 200 Iranian Filmmakers Demands Greater Creative Freedom

A group of 200 filmmakers has sent an open letter to President Hassan Rouhani and the Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Abbas Salehi, demanding “an end to the current guidelines that require filmmakers...

Two Berlin Festival Films Relive Torture in Iranian Prisons

By James Imam BERLIN Feb 21 (Reuters) - In “Where God is Not”, Iranian filmmaker Mehran Tamadon´s unflinching account of the torture of former political prisoners in Iran, the director asks his interviewees to relive the horrors of their...

Film Director Lambastes Journalist Over Opposition To Hijab

Marzieh Boroumand, a veteran Iranian film and television director who has come out against the compulsory hijab, has also criticized those who incite civil unrest, particularly from outside the country. A recent message on her...

Iranian Director of AIDS-Related Movie Offers Public Free HIV Tests

Iranian director Masoud Jafari Jozani and the cast and the crew of his movie “Behind the Wall of Silence” have set up mobile medical units in front of cinemas screening the film to provide...

Berlin Film Festival’s Main Jury to Include Tehran-Based Director Mohammad Rasoulof

By Kayhan Life Staff The celebrated Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof will be one of the six members of the main jury of the International Berlin Festival next month. Mr. Rasoulof -- whose movie “There is No...

Iranian Filmmaker Sohrab Shahid Saless Gets Major Tribute at London’s ICA

By Tara Biglari The drab existence of a Turkish guest worker in Germany is the subject of the late Iranian director Sohrab Shahid Saless's film "Far From Home," which was screened at the Institute of...

Tough Realities of Life In Iran Are Highlighted in London Festival of Films By...

By Ahmad Rafat The first festival of documentaries, short films, and animation by Iran-based female directors was recently held in London. The two-day festival was co-organized by the Persia Educational Foundation (established in 2016) and...