Tuesday, August 18, 2026

Filmmaker Hassan Nazer’s ‘Winners,’ UK’s Submission for the Oscars, Is Released in Cinemas

By Firouzeh Nabavi Scottish-Iranian director Hassan Nazer’s movie “Winners” (“Barandeha”) -- the UK’s submission for this year’s Academy Award for Best International Feature – has recently been released in UK movie theaters.  The movie was...

Growing Up With Gender Identity Disorder in Iran: Interview with Pooya Mohseni

By Fred Parvaneh Mohseni is an Iranian-American actor, writer, and activist. A graduate of New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology and the Maggie Flanigan Studio, Pooya has had a string of lead, supporting and recurring...

Letter from 200 Iranian Filmmakers Demands Greater Creative Freedom

A group of 200 filmmakers has sent an open letter to President Hassan Rouhani and the Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Abbas Salehi, demanding “an end to the current guidelines that require filmmakers...

Ukraine, Iran’s Quests for Freedom to Dominate Berlin Film Festival

BERLIN, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Sean Penn's documentary portrait of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, filmed as Russia invaded Ukraine a year ago, will be among headliners at next month's Berlin Film Festival, where a life achievement...

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...

“Khook – Pig” Challenges Images of Iran at Berlin Film Festival

By Riham Alkousaa BERLIN, Feb 21 (Reuters) - A comedy depicting a movie director being protected by his family from a serial killer challenges stereotypes about Iran and Iranian women at the Berlin Film Festival,...

Jafar Panahi Is Nominated for Two Oscars; Documentary By Eyni and Khaki Also Shortlisted

By Nazanine Nouri Jafar Panahi, the award-winning Iranian director who has twice been imprisoned in his homeland, has been nominated for two Academy Awards for his movie “It Was Just An Accident” -- which won...

Two Berlin Festival Films Relive Torture in Iranian Prisons

By James Imam BERLIN Feb 21 (Reuters) - In “Where God is Not”, Iranian filmmaker Mehran Tamadon´s unflinching account of the torture of former political prisoners in Iran, the director asks his interviewees to relive the horrors of their...

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 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...