An Iranian’s Adventures in America: Maz Jobrani Discusses his New Movie
The Iranian-born actor and comedian Maziyar Jobrani – known as ‘Maz’ to most people – is a major hit in the U.S. That's thanks mainly to his stand-up act, but also to minor parts in Hollywood...
Iranian Directors Including Rasoulof In the Spotlight at Toronto Film Festival
By Ahmad Rafat
Mohammad Rasoulof, the Iranian filmmaker who secretly escaped Iran earlier this year, is back in the spotlight at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) with “The Seed of the Sacred Fig,” which...
Documentary on Ukrainian Airliner Death, Directed by Mania Akbari, Screens in London
By Ahmad Rafat
The London-based Iranian filmmaker Mania Akbari has shot a documentary about Elnaz Nabiyi, one of the 167 passengers who died when Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) air defense units shot down Ukrainian...
Iranian Film Professionals Boycott Islamic Republic’s Fajr Festival
By Ahmad Rafat
A significant number of people in the Iranian film industry have said that they will not attend the 41st Fajr International Film Festival, which is being held between Feb. 1 and 11...
Iranian Revolution Video Game Takes History to a Global Audience
By Julie Ershadi
For many Iranian emigres, the Islamic Revolution of 1979 is an event that they would rather put behind them. The memories can be much too painful. Yet for Navid Khonsari, who was born in Canada and raised in Iran until the Revolution, the only way out of the trauma is to work through it.
For many Iranian emigres, the Islamic Revolution of 1979 is an event that they would rather put behind them. The memories can be much too painful. Yet for Navid Khonsari, who was born in Canada and raised in Iran until the Revolution, the only way out of the trauma is to work through it.
London Film Festival Features Trump Biopic by Abbasi, Rasoulof’s New Movie
By Ahmad Rafat
The BFI London Film Festival, which ran from Oct. 8 to Oct. 20, showcased the work of Iranian directors and actors from Iran and the diaspora, with two movies receiving particular attention: ...
Iran Submits Movie by Vahid Jalilvand for Foreign-Language Oscar
Vahid Jalilvand’s drama “No Date, No Signature” has been submitted by the Farabi Cinema Foundation (FCF) to the 2019 Academy Awards as Iran's pick for the foreign-language Oscar.
Since 1956, the Academy of Motion Picture...
Venice Festival May Screen Jafar Panahi’s Documentary on Iran Flood Victims
A documentary film by the award-winning Iranian director Jafar Panahi and the veteran actress Pouri Banayi on the plight of people in the southern flood-stricken provinces of Khuzestan and Lorestan could be screened at...
Video Game Revisits 1953 Overthrow of Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh
By Julie Ershadi
Kurosh ValaNejad was born in Iran in 1966 to an Iranian father and an American mother. He and his older brother Cyrus grew up there until shortly before the 1979 Revolution, when...
Halloween with a Persian Twist
By Fred Parvaneh
Halloween is a quintessentially American celebration – yet one that countless Iranians around the globe happily partake in.
Halloween relives the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in), which originated in Ireland, the...














