Thursday, April 23, 2026

Empty Chair for Jailed Iranian Director at Venice Film Fest

By Crispian Balmer VENICE, Sept 9 (Reuters) - An empty chair stood in for Iranian director Jafar Panahi at Venice on Friday as the festival hosted the world premiere of his latest movie "No Bears" while...

A Portrait of My Mother: Filmmaker Massoumi Screens New Documentary

Trailer courtesy of Nariman Massoumi. By Tara Biglari The British-Iranian filmmaker Dr. Nariman Massoumi pays a moving tribute to his mother Manijeh in a half-hour documentary screened recently at London’s Royal Anthropological Institute. “How do you see...

Iranian-American Maral Milani Plays Aspiring Yemeni Scientist In Play

By Fred Parvaneh After four weeks of sold-out performances at the Odyssey Theatre in Los Angeles, “Paradise” -- a play written by Laura Maria Censabella and co-produced by Oscar-winning actress Viola Davis -- recently ended...

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 Short Film Association Calls on Government to Ease Censorship

By Azadeh Karimi The Iranian Short Film Association (ISFA), a nonprofit non-governmental organization operating under the auspices of the Iranian House of Cinema, released a statement recently calling on the Ministry of Culture and Islamic...

All About Oscar-Nominated Iranian Documentary ‘Cutting through Rocks’ — Will It Win Next Month?

By Kayhan Life Staff An award-winning Iranian documentary is in the running for an Oscar next month: "Cutting Through Rocks" is nominated in the Best Documentary Feature category at the upcoming 98th Academy Awards on...

Tehran Short Film Festival Selection Disputed by 200 Iranian Filmmakers

Two hundred Iranian filmmakers have written a letter to Abbas Salehi, the Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance, objecting to the censorship of works selected for the 35th Tehran International Short Film Festival scheduled...

Iranian Filmmakers, Actresses Defy Regime In Aftermath of Protests

By Ahmad Rafat and Firouzeh Nordstrom Since the start of the ‘Woman, Life, Freedom’ movement in 2022, Iranian cinema has entered a new phase unparalleled in the past four and a half decades. Independent filmmakers...

Iranian Director Mohammadi Confronts Evin Prison’s Horrors with Berlinale Entry ‘Roya’

By Miranda Murray and Hanna Rantala BERLIN, Feb 16 (Reuters) - Iranian documentary filmmaker and women's rights activist Mahnaz Mohammadi said she had to turn to fiction to be able to confront and share her own experiences...

Another Oscar for Iran and Asghar Farhadi, the Director who Refused to Attend this...

Though he boycotted Hollywood's annual Awards Ceremony, Tehran-based film director Asghar Farhadi has repeated history, clinching a second Best Foreign Language Film Oscar for "The Salesman" five years after he became the first Iranian...