Saturday, January 31, 2026
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Iranian Revolution Video Game Takes History to a Global Audience

By Julie Ershadi
For many Iranian emigres, the Islamic Revolution of 1979 is an event that they would rather put behind them. The memories can be much too painful. Yet for Navid Khonsari, who was born in Canada and raised in Iran until the Revolution, the only way out of the trauma is to work through it.

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...

Banned Iranian Directors Are In Competition For Top Berlin Film Festival Prize

By Ahmad Rafat A movie by two Iranian directors currently facing a travel ban is in competition for the top prize at the Berlin Film Festival, or Berlinale, which is due to be held from Feb....

Iranian Films Win Awards At Venice Film Festival

By Ahmad Rafat Iranian filmmakers and actors won three awards in the Horizons (Orizzonti) section of the Venice Film Festival earlier this month. The section runs parallel to the main festival competition. Dominique Welinski and René...

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...

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 Filmmakers Reluctant to Participate in 37th Fajr Film Festival

The 37th Fajr Film Festival, scheduled to run from January 31 to February 11 in Tehran, coincides with the 40th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution. Many prominent filmmakers have reportedly decided not to take...

Shirin Ebadi Attends Venice Film Festival For World Premiere of Documentary On Her Life

By Nazanine Nouri The world premiere of the documentary “Shirin Ebadi: Until We are Free” took place this week at the Venice International Film Festival, in the presence of the Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin...

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 Cinema’s New Hope: Panah Panahi, London Film Festival Award Winner 

By Ahmad Rafat Iranian director Panah Panahi’s first feature film “Hit the Road” won the Best Film Award at the 65th BFI London Film Festival last month. Panahi was up against stiff competition for the...