Iranian Director Rasoulof Likely To Attend His Cannes Festival Premiere
By Ahmad Rafat
Iranian Director Mohammad Rasoulof, who has left Iran secretly, will reportedly be on the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival for the premiere of his latest film, “The Seed of The...
Iranian-Australian Actor Mojean Aria Wins Heath Ledger Award
By Fred Parvaneh
In early June, the young Iranian-Australian actor Mojean (pronounced Moe-zhan) Aria was announced as the recipient of the 2017 "Heath Ledger Scholarship".
The prestigious award, created by the non-profit organization Australians in Film,...
Actress Mary Apick Discusses Her Animation Film On Iran’s Underage Street Peddlers
By Ahmad Rafat
Iranian-American stage and television actress Mary Apick has produced a 13-minute animation film titled “The Cat” drawing attention to the plight of Iran’s child peddlers. The focus of the story: a flower...
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...
Venice Film Festival Hosts Filmmakers Shirin Neshat, Khatami
Four Iranian directors are presenting their movies at this year's Venice Film Festival (which ends Sept. 9), all of them outside of the official competition. They include Shirin Neshat, who won the festival's Silver...
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...
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...
Iran Judiciary Lifts Ban on Honor Killing Movie ‘Parental House’
By Azadeh Karimi
On November 13, the Tehran prosecutor’s office lifted a ban on “The Parental House,” a 2012 feature-length drama written, directed and produced by the veteran Iranian filmmaker Kiyanoush Ayyari, according to Mohammad Mehdi...
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...
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...














