Monday, August 24, 2026

At Venice Film Festival, Filmmaker Rasoulof Is On Main Competition Jury

By Ahmad Rafat The 82nd International Venice Film Festival is currently under way on Lido island in Venice. The event concludes on Sept. 6 with the announcement of the Golden Lion, the Silver Lion, and...

Play About Prostitutes Is Banned From Iran’s Fajr Festival

Iran’s Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance has refused to reissue a permit for the play “A Barren Day” which was set to open on January 22 at the 36th Fajr International Theater Festival...

Marjane Satrapi Releases ‘Radioactive,’ Biopic of Marie Curie

By Nazanine Nouri The Iranian-born, Oscar-nominated director Marjane Satrapi has a new movie out. “Radioactive” is the story of the scientist Marie Curie, the first woman to win the Nobel Prize, and the only woman...

Iran’s First Feminist Qorrat al-Ayn Is Brought Back to Life in New Movie

By Katayoon Halajan
Shabnam Tolouei is an Iranian-born actress, stage director and playwright who moviegoers will remember as the lead actress in Shirin Neshat’s movie "Women Without Men" (winner of the Venice Film Festival's top Golden Lion award in 2009). Tolouei is now back

Rave Parties in the Iranian Desert Are Subject of New Documentary

By Julie Ershadi
In the Iranian poetic tradition, the desert is the symbol of a soul-searching spiritual journey, or a refuge from the eyes of the world. In Raving Iran, filmmaker Susanne Regina Meures’ 2016 documentary, the desert is the hiding place for a pair of modern revelers keen to express themselves away from the government’s reach.
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At Sundance Festival, Women Directors Noora Niasari, Maryam Keshavarz And Sierra Urich Are In Competition

By Firouzeh Nabavi Three female directors of Iranian descent are vying for top awards at the  prestigious Sundance Film Festival in Utah, which started on Jan. 19 and ends Sunday. They include Noora Niasari, whose...

Genius Mathematician Maryam Mirzakhani Is Remembered in Documentary: Interview 

By Firoozeh Nordstrom Maryam Mirzakhani was the first woman to win the world’s most prestigious mathematics prize, the Fields Medal. George Csicsery’s “Secrets of the Surface” is the first feature-length film about the life and...

Iranian Films Are Among Award Contenders at Venice Film Festival

By Ahmad Rafat The Venice Film Festival -- which gave Shirin Neshat its best director award in 2009 -- opened on August 29 on the island of Lido. While this year's main competition has no...
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Banned Iranian Director Ali Ahmadzadeh Wins Top Award At Locarno Film Festival

By Ahmad Rafat Ali Ahmadzadeh — an Iranian filmmaker who was banned earlier this year from leaving his country — has won the top award at the Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland for his movie...

Awardwinning Filmmaker Rasoulof Speaks to Kayhan Life; Movie Is Out in Europe

By Ahmad Rafat The award-winning Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof’s film “There Is No Evil” (2020) has just been released in cinemas across Europe. The film has won the top prize at several film festivals, including...