Pulitzer Winner Sanaz Toossi’s New Play, Set in Karaj Living Room, Gets UK Premiere
By Firouzeh Nabavi
The Iranian-American playwright Sanaz Toossi – who won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama last year for her play “English,” about a class of English language students in Karaj, west of Tehran –...
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...
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...
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...
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...
Another Oscar for Iran and Asghar Farhadi, the Director who Refused to Attend this...
Though he boycotted Hollywood's annual Awards Ceremony, Tehran-based film director Asghar Farhadi has repeated history, clinching a second Best Foreign Language Film Oscar for "The Salesman" five years after he became the first Iranian...
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...
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...
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...
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...














