Rehearsals for a Revolution

Documentary

★ Shortlisted by Mitch Allen

Programme: Centrepiece
Year: 2026
Runtime: 98 min
Country: Czech Republic, Spain
Language: Persian
Premiere: Canadian Premiere
TMDB rating: 6.8 (2 votes)

Through five portraits of relatives and mentors, five expressions of resistance, Pegah Ahangarani sketches her life story. Drawing from personal archives, home videos, street protests 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, she pieces together intimate and collective memories, forming the portrait of a country shaped by political repression and in constant hope for a revolution.

From the TIFF programme

Acclaimed actor-turned-documentarian Pegah Ahangarani draws on a trove of archival material to skillfully weave her personal narrative with Iranian politics over the past four decades.

Celebrated Iranian actor Pegah Ahangarani’s breakout performance came at a young age in The Girl in the Sneakers (1999). Her career flourished over the years, appearing in approximately 40 films before pivoting to stepping behind the camera. Ahangarani’s debut feature is grounded in the Iranian concept of yād — mining memory — through an essayistic form, weaving together home movies, family photographs, and news broadcasts to construct a vivid portrait of Iran’s modern history in the four decades since the revolution.

Balancing the personal with the political, the film unfolds in five chapters, each devoted to a figure who shaped Ahangarani’s life: her revolutionary filmmaker father, Jamshid Ahangarani; her beloved teacher, Shermin Sarra; her uncle, Rashid; her close friend, Amir; with the final section dedicated to her young daughter, Lily. Each chapter confronts seismic turning points in Iranian history — moments when hope and the promise of change were palpable — from the 1997 election of Mohammad Khatami and the 2009 protests to the persistent oppression of the current regime and the ongoing destruction from U.S. and Israeli missiles.

Now living in exile, Ahangarani grapples with her role in the ongoing struggle — one that is resolute and unwavering. She clings fiercely to hope and to the “people who didn’t give up, who rehearsed for the revolution,” remaining steadfast in the fight for justice and freedom.

The winner of Cannes’ L'Œil d'Or documentary prize, Rehearsals for a Revolution skillfully fuses the political with the personal, resonating powerfully with current events.

THOM POWERS