Rehearsals for a Revolution: Pegah Ahangarani Brings Her Documentary to TIFF 2026

Pegah Ahangarani attended the Toronto International Film Festival 2026 premiere of Rehearsals for a Revolution, bringing her deeply personal documentary about Iranian history, memory, family and resistance to audiences in Toronto.

Ahangarani appeared at TIFF Lightbox on September 15 alongside musician and filmmaker Ali Azimi and actor and filmmaker Arash Ashtiani. The Toronto screening marked another major international festival stop for Rehearsals for a Revolution, a 2026 documentary that examines more than four decades of Iranian history through personal memories, family archives, historical footage and portraits of people who influenced Ahangarani’s life.

The film, written and directed by Ahangarani, has already attracted international attention following its presentation at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival, where it received the L’Oeil d’Or, or Golden Eye, for Best Documentary. Sony Pictures Classics has also announced a theatrical release in select U.S. cities beginning January 8, 2027.

At the 2026 Toronto International Film Festival, Rehearsals for a Revolution was presented as part of TIFF’s Centrepiece programming. The September 15 screening was scheduled for 7 p.m. at TIFF Lightbox Cinema 3 in downtown Toronto.

For Iranian cinema and international audiences interested in contemporary Persian-language documentary filmmaking, the TIFF 2026 appearance represents an important moment for a film that connects personal biography with the broader history of Iran.

Pegah Ahangarani at TIFF 2026

Pegah Ahangarani is one of the most recognizable Iranian actresses of her generation and has increasingly expanded her career from acting into documentary filmmaking and directing.

Born in Iran in 1984 and now based in London, Ahangarani began acting as a child. Her early work included The Singer Cat, directed by Kambuzia Partovi, when she was seven years old. She later gained wider recognition for her leading role in The Girl in the Sneakers, directed by Rasoul Sadrameli. Her acting career has included more than 40 films.

Her transition toward documentary filmmaking has added another dimension to her career. Before Rehearsals for a Revolution, she directed several short and television documentary projects, including I Am Trying to Remember, My Father, As I Lay Dying, Child Soldier and Taraneh. Her previous documentary work appeared at international festivals and documentary events, helping establish the foundation for her first feature documentary.

Rehearsals for a Revolution therefore represents more than another appearance by an established Iranian actress. It is Ahangarani’s first feature documentary as a director, combining her personal experience with a much broader historical narrative.

Her presence at TIFF 2026 also placed the film within an international festival circuit that had already included Cannes and Karlovy Vary.

What Is Rehearsals for a Revolution About?

Rehearsals for a Revolution is a Persian-language documentary directed by Pegah Ahangarani.

The film explores more than 40 years of Iranian history through five portraits of relatives and mentors. Instead of presenting the history of Iran exclusively through conventional political commentary or a chronological historical narrative, Ahangarani uses personal stories and memories as the foundation for the film.

The documentary incorporates personal archives, home movies, street-protest footage, newspapers, recorded voices and other historical material. Through these fragments, the filmmaker connects individual experiences with major events in modern Iranian history.

The film begins with the period surrounding the 1979 Iranian Revolution and continues across subsequent decades, ultimately reaching the events and war of 2026. The result is a documentary that combines family history with collective memory.

The official description of the film emphasizes five portraits and five expressions of resistance. Each portrait provides another perspective through which Ahangarani examines the relationship between private life and national history.

This approach gives Rehearsals for a Revolution a distinctive structure. Rather than treating history as something distant and abstract, the documentary examines how historical events enter families, relationships, memories and individual identities.

September 22, 2026 | 11:05 am