Wednesday, September 2, 2026

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...

At Cannes Festival, Asghar Farhadi Urges Iran to Lift Panahi’s Travel Ban 

By Tara Biglari Asghar Farhadi's new movie "Everybody Knows” (Todos Lo Saben) opened the Cannes Film Festival on Tuesday night, with Farhadi appearing on the red carpet alongside his actors, Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem. At the film’s press conference the...

Shirin Ebadi Attends Venice Film Festival For World Premiere of Documentary On Her Life

By Nazanine Nouri The world premiere of the documentary “Shirin Ebadi: Until We are Free” took place this week at the Venice International Film Festival, in the presence of the Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin...

Films By Iranian Women Get Top Billing In Europe’s Movie Theaters

By Ahmad Rafat Women directors of Iranian descent are seeing their movies widely showcased across European movie theaters. The directors are Zar Amir Ebrahimi, with “Tatami;” Maryam Keshavarz, the Iranian-American director of “The Persian Version;”...

Oscars Academy Invites Samira Makhmalbaf, Three Other Iranian-Born Talents to Join  

By Nazanine Nouri and Kayhan Life Staff Hollywood is honoring Iranian-born talent. Four film-industry professionals have been invited to join the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences -- the panel that elects the winners...

PROFILE: Venice Festival Awardwinner Shahram Mokri Makes Film About Cinema Fire

By Nazanine Nouri This year’s Venice Film Festival gave a prestigious award to the Iranian director Shahram Mokri: He won the best original screenplay award in the festival’s parallel ‘Orizzonti’ section for his latest film,...

‘Revolution on Canvas’: Nicky Nodjoumi Movie Has European Premiere in London

By Firouzeh Nabavi In 1980, a year after the Islamic Revolution, an exhibition of works by the painter Nicky Nodjoumi at the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art was vandalized and shut down because of its...

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...

Iranian Directors In the Spotlight at London Film Festival

A documentary shot by an Iranian asylum seeker in a detention camp was among several Iranian films screened at this year's London Film Festival, which drew some 200,000 moviegoers to an array of cinemas...
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Another Oscar for Iran? Farhadi’s ‘Salesman’ Is Nominated, But He’ll Skip the Awards

Asghar Farhadi became the first Iranian in history to win an Oscar: for his drama "A Separation," which took the prize for Best Foreign Language Film in 2012. He may win another Oscar this...