Annual Festival of Films from Iran
February 7–13, 2025
For the 36th year of our Festival of Films from Iran, we’re taking the opportunity to look back at some of the highlights of Iranian cinema we’ve presented at the Film Center—during the festival and year round—in the last 36 years. The festival began in 1989, 10 years after the Iranian Revolution (and in the year that marked the death of Ayatollah Khomeini) spearheaded by the Film Center’s then Director of Programming Barbara Scharres, supported by Associate Director of Programming Martin Rubin, with contribution from Alissa Simon (Barbara and Alissa are quoted in the synopses below), and with consistent support since its inception from Mehrnaz Saeed-Vafa. As the Festival of Films from Iran gears up to conclude its third decade, we’re nostalgic for these momentous years of this groundbreaking festival and of a selection of the films that have defined the last 36 years of Iranian cinema. In an ever-shifting cinematic landscape, and in a volatile time for Iran, we look back in homage, while simultaneously looking forward in anticipation.
The Gene Siskel Film Center’s Festival of Films from Iran was founded in 1989 and continues as a yearly showcase that spotlights the innovation, resilience, and humanism of contemporary Iranian filmmakers and acclaimed Iranian auteurs. The Festival of Films from Iran serves as a window to Iran and its political, social and cultural world, forming and challenging audiences' perceptions of Iran, while also building a richer understanding of the country and its cinema.