Pegah Ahangarani

Rehearsals for a Revolution

Born in Iran in 1984 and currently based in London, Pegah Ahangarani is an award-winning Iranian filmmaker and actress whose career spans more than three decades.

Her directorial work includes the documentaries I Am Trying to Remember (IDFA 2021), My Father (IDFA 2023), and As I Lay Dying (IDFA 2025), as well as Child Soldier (BBC World, 2024) and Taraneh (BBC World, 2025).

Her short films have received critical acclaim and have been selected for major international festivals, including Hot Docs, Busan, the IDA Documentary Awards, and Melbourne, among others. She has won awards at festivals such as Dokufest (2021), Busan (2021), Porto Femme International Film Festival (2023, Gold Frame), IDFA (2023), Short Focus London Film Festival (2024), and Florence Short Film Festival (2024). Her work was also published by The New Yorker.

Her latest film, As I Lay Dying, opened the IDFA Film Festival in 2025.

PROJECT SYNOPSIS

REHEARSALS FOR A REVOLUTION - FEATURE DOCUMENTARY

Through five portraits of relatives and mentors, five expressions of resistance, Pegah Ahangarani sketches her life story. Drawing from personal archives, home videos, newspapers, and recorded voices, she retraces more than 40 years of Iran's history.  She pieces together intimate and collective memories, forming the portrait of a country shaped by political repression and in constant hope for a revolution.