First Trailer for Acclaimed Doc ‘Rehearsals for a Revolution’ from Iran

by Alex Billington
August 6, 2026
Source: YouTube

“This is the story of my homeland, and the people I grew up with.” Madman Films has revealed an official trailer for the acclaimed documentary film Rehearsals for a Revolution, made by the Iranian filmmaker Pegah Ahangarani. This first premiered at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival where it earned some top notch reviews and won the L’Œil d’or Best Documentary award at the fest. The profoundly moving doc film covers decades in the life of this actress and filmmaker, showing all her country has been through. Pegah traces her life through five portraits of her relatives and mentors. Using personal archives, home videos, protests, and newspapers, she chronicles over 40 years of Iranian history from 1979 to 2026. This easily sounds like one of the most important must watch docs of 2026. With many strong reviews to back it up and festival stops all over – next playing at the 2026 Melbourne Film Festival. “Ahangarani weaves together archival materials in order to show the world that personal and collective history cannot be separated, because at the end of every story there is always a human being.” Check out the initial trailer below and add this to your watchlist.

Here’s the first official trailer for Pegah Ahangarani’s doc Rehearsals for a Revolution, from YouTube:

How best to understand Iran, a country that, though it has recently been in the news on a daily basis, in many ways remains a mystery? Iranian actress & filmmaker Pegah Ahangarani looks at her country’s history through personal stories. In five portraits of people in her life, be they family or others who have in some way influenced her, she finds commonalities with her own past and with important moments in Iranian history, including the Iran-Iraq war, the revolution, and recent Women, Life, Freedom movement. Working with extraordinary sensitivity, Ahangarani weaves together archival materials in order to show the world that personal and collective history cannot be separated, because at the end of every story there is always a human being. Rehearsals for a Revolution is a documentary directed by Iranian doc filmmaker Pegah Ahangarani, of the films Kudak Sarbaz and Taraneh: A Documentary, and a few more short films. Produced by Kaveh Farnam and Adrià Monés. This first premiered at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival earlier this year. It’s currently showing on the film festival circuit. No other US release date is set yet – stay tuned.

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