Oscar race: UK submits Iran documentary 'Rehearsals for a Revolution'
Pegah Ahangarani's documentary won the top documentary prize at Cannes. It is now the UK's entry for the international feature Oscar.
Archive image · Photo: Ahmad Pirooz / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0 (cropped and resized)
The UK has selected 'Rehearsals for a Revolution' by Iranian director Pegah Ahangarani as its entry for the Oscar for best international feature film. The decision was made by a selection committee of members or representatives of the British academy BAFTA's film committee.
Ahangarani weaves her own life together with more than 40 years of Iranian history through five portraits of relatives and mentors, drawing on family archives, home videos, protest footage and newspaper reports. The film screened in May in the Special Screenings section at Cannes, where it won the L'Œil d'or, the festival's documentary award.
This is a submission, not a nomination. Sony released the film in UK and Irish cinemas on Sept. 25; in the US, Sony Pictures Classics plans a qualifying run in December and a limited release on Jan. 8, 2027, according to Filmofilia.