Iranian Cinema: From Aesthetics to Politics
March 7–April 23, 2026
Join us for a rare visit by celebrated Iranian filmmaker and screenwriter Rakhshan Banietemad, who will be in person April 22–23 to speak about her work in both documentary and feature filmmaking. Also screening are three classic films made by filmmakers associated with the Iranian New Wave.
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Rakhshan Banietemad, Mohsen Abdolvahab: Gilaneh, 2005
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Rakhshan Banietemad: Under the Skin of the City, 2001
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Bahram Beyzaie: Bashu, the Little Stranger, 1986
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Rakhshan Banietemad: All My Trees, 2015
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Dariush Mehrjui: The Postman, 1972
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Sohrab Shahid Saless: Far from Home, 1975
- Upcoming
Films - Past
Films - Past
Events
Upcoming Films
The Postman
Dariush Mehrjui
Iran, 19724K Digital Restoration
Saturday, March 7, 4:45 PMView DetailsLegendary filmmaker Dariush Mehrjui (The Cow) sets Georg Büchner’s notorious 1836 play Woyzeck in modern Iran. “Resembles in its ferocity nothing less than Chaplin or De Sica” (Amos Vogel).
Far from Home
Sohrab Shahid Saless
West Germany, Iran, 19754K Digital Restoration
Also screens on Sunday, March 15 (with an introduction by Deniz Göktürk).Wednesday, March 11, 3:30 PMIntroduced by Minoo MoallemView DetailsA Turkish guest worker makes his way through a frigid Germany in this moving glimpse at exile, solitude, and migration. Director Sohrab Shahid Saless, a key figure in the early Iranian New Wave, lived in exile in Germany.
Far from Home
Sohrab Shahid Saless
West Germany, Iran, 19754K Digital Restoration
Also screens on Wednesday, March 11 (with an introduction by Minoo Moallem).Sunday, March 15, 1 PMIntroduced by Deniz GöktürkView DetailsA Turkish guest worker makes his way through a frigid Germany in this moving glimpse at exile, solitude, and migration. Director Sohrab Shahid Saless, a key figure in the early Iranian New Wave, lived in exile in Germany.
The Postman
Dariush Mehrjui
Iran, 19724K Digital Restoration
Wednesday, March 18, 3:30 PMView DetailsLegendary filmmaker Dariush Mehrjui (The Cow) sets Georg Büchner’s notorious 1836 play Woyzeck in modern Iran. “Resembles in its ferocity nothing less than Chaplin or De Sica” (Amos Vogel).
Bashu, the Little Stranger
Bahram Beyzaie
Iran, 19864K Digital Restoration
Sunday, March 29, 1 PMView DetailsA young war orphan along the Iran/Iraq border somehow escapes to northern Iran in this powerful work, cited in a 1999 Iranian critics poll as the greatest Iranian film of all time. Admirers include Amir Naderi and Jafar Panahi.
Bashu, the Little Stranger
Bahram Beyzaie
Iran, 19864K Digital Restoration
Wednesday, April 8, 3:30 PMView DetailsA young war orphan along the Iran/Iraq border somehow escapes to northern Iran in this powerful work, cited in a 1999 Iranian critics poll as the greatest Iranian film of all time. Admirers include Amir Naderi and Jafar Panahi.
All My Trees
Rakhshan Banietemad
Iran, 2015Wednesday, April 22, 3:30 PMRakhshan Banietemad and Minoo Moallem in ConversationView DetailsThis program features two documentaries that focus on the environment and the power of women to change society: All My Trees, a portrait of the founder of Iran’s first environmental NGO by Iran’s greatest female filmmaker, and Mother of the Earth.
Under the Skin of the City
Rakhshan Banietemad
Iran, 2001Thursday, April 23, 4 PMRakhshan Banietemad and Minoo Moallem in ConversationView Details“The First Lady of Iranian cinema” (Film Comment) uses a working-class Tehran family’s lives as a window into the struggles and strangled hopes of an entire nation.
Gilaneh
Rakhshan Banietemad, Mohsen Abdolvahab
Iran, 2005Thursday, April 23, 7 PMRakhshan Banietemad and Minoo Moallem in ConversationView DetailsAn “ordinary” Iranian mother leads her children through two separate wars, across two separate decades, in this alternatively tender and provocative showcase of the human cost of war.