REHEARSALS FOR A REVOLUTION

Winner of Best Documentary at Cannes, Rehearsals for a Revolution marks the directorial debut of Iranian actress Pegah Ahangarani, who became a star while still a teenager.  Through five portraits of relatives and mentors, five expressions of resistance, Ahangarani sketches her life story. Each chapter centers on someone who shaped her, from her father, filmmaker Jamshid Ahangarani, to her young daughter, as waves of hope give way to brutal crackdowns that drive some into exile and cost others far more. Drawing from personal archives, home videos, street protest footage, newspapers, and recorded voices, she retraces more than 40 years of Iran's history, from the early days of 1979 until the war that began in 2026. Now in exile herself, Ahangarani pieces together intimate and collective memories, forming the portrait of a country shaped by political repression and in constant hope for a revolution.