Venice Festival May Screen Jafar Panahi’s Documentary on Iran Flood Victims
A documentary film by the award-winning Iranian director Jafar Panahi and the veteran actress Pouri Banayi on the plight of people in the southern flood-stricken provinces of Khuzestan and Lorestan could be screened at...
Movie Shot Covertly in Iran, Smuggled Out Wins Sundance Festival’s Special Jury Award
By Kayhan Life Staff
An Iranian feature film shot covertly in Iran and smuggled out of the country has won a special jury award at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah.
Written, directed and produced by...
Jafar Panahi Among Contenders for the Cannes Film Festival Palme d’Or
The Cannes Film Festival announced its lineup late last week, and said the Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi -- who is not allowed to leave Iran or to make movies -- was a contender for...
Isabella Nefar Discusses Role in Upcoming ˋReading Lolita’ Movie, Alongside Farahani
By Katayoun Shahandeh
Isabella Nefar is an Iranian-Italian actor who spent her formative years in Iran before studying in Italy and later at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA). She recently finished...
Iranian Director Ghanizadeh Dedicates Award to Slain Protester Pooya Bakhtiari
By Azadeh Karimi
Iranian film and stage director Homayoun Ghanizadeh, whose 2019 film “The Clown” won the top prize in the “Exceptional Talent and Creative” section of the “13th Gathering of Screenwriters and Film Critics”,...
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...
Iranian Director of AIDS-Related Movie Offers Public Free HIV Tests
Iranian director Masoud Jafari Jozani and the cast and the crew of his movie “Behind the Wall of Silence” have set up mobile medical units in front of cinemas screening the film to provide...
Producer of Iranian Horror Movie Armin Amiri Says the Genre Has Potential
By Fred Parvaneh
Iranian-born Armin Amiri is an American movie actor, producer, restaurateur and a former New York City club owner known for its toughest rope policy.
Amiri is best known for his supporting roles in...
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...
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...













