Iranian filmmaker and actress Pegah Ahangarani received major international recognition at the seventy-ninth edition of the Cannes Film Festival, where her documentary “Rehearsals for a Revolution” was screened in a special section of the festival and later won the prestigious “Golden Eye” (L’Œil d’or) award for best documentary.
The documentary premiered on May 16, 2026, and was met with strong audience reception. Following the screening, Ahangarani dedicated the film to the mothers who lost their children in the struggle for freedom in Iran. During the ceremony, she also spoke about what she described as “very difficult days for the people of Iran,” referring to widespread internet disruptions, daily reports of executions by the Islamic Republic, and the continuing shadow of war over the country.
Ahangarani attended the Cannes screening alongside her husband, Iranian musician and composer Ali Azimi, and her mother, Iranian filmmaker and producer Manijeh Hekmat.
Prior to the screening, Thierry Frémaux, director of the Cannes Film Festival, described the documentary as “a story of Iran.” He noted that the film not only addresses contemporary Iran, which is currently at the center of global attention, but also revisits the country’s historical legacy in order to better understand present-day events.
According to Ahangarani, the documentary intertwines five portraits of relatives and mentors with five different forms of resistance, ultimately reflecting her own life story. She explained that the film reconstructs more than four decades of Iranian history through the use of personal archives, home videos, footage of street protests, newspapers, and recorded audio materials.The documentary later received the Golden Eye Award, the most important documentary prize at Cannes. Accepting the award, Ahangarani dedicated it to the people of Iran and praised their persistence despite years of repression. She stated that Iranians “have never stopped fighting for their rights, their freedom, and their dreams,” adding that she believed they would “never surrender.”
She concluded her speech with a personal hope for the future, expressing her wish that her young daughter, Lili, and all children in Iran would one day live in “a free and democratic Iran.”
The international recognition of “Rehearsals for a Revolution” comes at a moment when Iranian artists, filmmakers, and civil society figures continue to face increasing political pressure inside the country. The film’s success at Cannes reflects both the growing global attention toward Iran’s internal struggles and the important role of documentary cinema in preserving historical memory and narratives of resistance.