Annual Festival of Films from Iran

About the Event

Schedule of Events

12:00 pm: Leila

"From the first frame to the last, you feel an intimacy with Leila that is the result of flawless direction and excellent writing." - Maria Garcia, Film Journal International.

Dariush Mehrjui (1939-2023), whose 1969 film THE COW is considered the first film of the Iranian New Wave, has been celebrated at the Festival of Films from Iran throughout the years, attending in person at the 19th festival, and the 8th, with his celebrated 1998 film LEILA. Writing about the film for that year's festival, Alissa Simon wrote, "A good-looking melodrama about the problems a young upper-class couple face when the wife finds she is infertile and her husband is forced by his mother into taking a second wife. An intellectual who has always pushed the limits of acceptable subject matter, Mehrjui is among Iran's foremost makers of sophisticated, adult-centered dramas."

Awards & Nominations

Winner - Best Supporting Actress (Jamileh Sheikhi), Fajr Film Festival
Winner - Best Film, Best Director, Best Actress (Leila Hatami), Best Actor (Ali Mosaffa), Best Screenplay, Best Editing, Hafez Ceremony.

Click here for Tickets

8:00 pm: Children Of Heaven

Shot in some of Tehran's poorest neighborhoods, Majid Majidi took a documentary-like approach to tell the story of brother Ali and sister Zahra who, after they lose Zahra's only pair of shoes, devise a scheme to keep the loss from their parents until they can acquire a new pair. Nominated for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film, Children Of Heaven, with its tender but never treacly performances from its child performers, uses a simple story of sibling love and sacrifice to create a world that, as Filmspotting's Josh Larsen declared, "feels as big as the universe."

Awards & Nominations

Nominee - Best International Film, Academy Awards
Winner - People's Choice Award, Montreal World Film Festival
Winner - Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Editing, Fajr Film Festival

Click here for Tickets

We want to hear from you if you have an event to share or updates to this event.