Rehearsals for a Revolution: Pegah Ahangarani Brings Her Documentary to TIFF 2026
Rehearsals for a Revolution at the Toronto International Film Festival
The Toronto International Film Festival 2026, commonly known as TIFF 2026, provided another major international platform for Ahangarani’s documentary.
The film screened at TIFF Lightbox in Toronto on September 15, 2026. Festival listings identify the film as part of the TIFF Centrepiece program, with the September 15 screening taking place at 7 p.m. at TIFF Lightbox Cinema 3.
The TIFF presentation followed the film’s earlier international festival appearances.
Rehearsals for a Revolution was selected for a special screening at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival, where Ahangarani presented her feature documentary to an international audience. The Cannes program describes the film as her first feature and identifies its production countries as the Czech Republic and Spain.
The film was subsequently included in the 60th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in the Horizons section. It has also been programmed at other international film festivals, demonstrating the growing international interest in Ahangarani’s documentary work.
The Toronto screening thus forms part of a wider festival journey for the film.
Pegah Ahangarani, Ali Azimi and Arash Ashtiani at TIFF
Photographs from the Toronto International Film Festival show Pegah Ahangarani attending the Rehearsals for a Revolution premiere alongside Ali Azimi and Arash Ashtiani.
The appearance brought together several Iranian artists whose careers have crossed national and international cultural spaces.
Arash Ashtiani has a particularly significant creative role in Rehearsals for a Revolution. He is credited as a co-writer and editor, and festival and production materials also identify him as a producer or co-producer.
His involvement illustrates the collaborative nature of the documentary. While Ahangarani is the film’s director and principal creative voice, the project incorporates contributions from writers, editors, producers, composers, sound designers and other filmmakers.
The Cannes credits list Ahangarani as director and screenwriter, with Ehsan Abdipur, Amir Ahmadi Arian, Arash Ashtiani and Majed Neisi among the writing credits. Ashtiani is also credited with editing, while Anna Andreu is credited for music and Dani Zacarias and Neda Mohseni for sound-related work.
The presence of Ali Azimi and Arash Ashtiani beside Ahangarani at TIFF therefore reflects the broader Iranian creative community surrounding the film.
September 22, 2026 | 11:05 am
