Iranian filmmaker Pegah Ahangarani has won the Cannes Film Festival’s top documentary award for Rehearsals for a Revolution, a Czech-Iranian-Spanish co-production backed by Prague-based production company Media Nest. The film received the 2026 L’Œil d’or prize, awarded annually to the best documentary presented across Cannes’ official selections and sidebars.
The 95-minute documentary premiered in the festival’s Special Screenings section and was selected from a field of 21 nonfiction films shown across Cannes, Critics’ Week, Directors’ Fortnight, and ACID. The jury, chaired by Oscar-winning Ukrainian filmmaker and journalist Mstyslav Chernov, praised the film’s “masterful script and vivid, urgent storytelling” in a statement accompanying the award.
For Czech cinema, the recognition marks another high-profile international success tied to Prague’s growing role in European documentary co-productions following Mr Nobody Against Putin‘s recent Oscar win. Media Nest, founded in Prague in 2015 by Iranian producer Kaveh Farnam, served as co-producer alongside Spain’s Fasten Films.
A personal history of modern Iran
Rehearsals for a Revolution traces more than four decades of Iranian history through Ahangarani’s personal archives and family memories. Structured around portraits of relatives and mentors, the documentary combines home videos, protest footage, voice recordings, newspapers, and autobiographical narration to examine life under political repression from the aftermath of the 1979 revolution to the current conflict that began in 2026.
The film is Ahangarani’s feature documentary debut, though she is already well known in Iran as an actress and filmmaker. Speaking after accepting the award in Cannes, she described the recognition as unexpected and deeply personal.
“I’m so happy because this is my first feature film and I couldn’t imagine that one day I’m going to get this prize,” Ahangarani said. “Through this film, I could show a part of the Iranian people who struggle for freedom and democracy and I want these struggles to be seen as much as possible.”
The jury emphasized the film’s willingness to question itself formally and emotionally while documenting political upheaval. In its citation, the panel said the documentary allowed audiences to enter “the intricate and complex reality of contemporary Iran through a braiding of personal, historical, and poetic cinema.”
Chernov later noted that the jury considered documentary filmmaking’s role in an era shaped by misinformation, artificial intelligence-generated content, and political distortion. According to the filmmaker, truthfulness and artistic originality were central criteria in selecting this year’s winner.
The title itself reflects Ahangarani’s dual background in cinema and activism. In interviews at Cannes, she explained that the word “rehearsal” refers both to her acting career and to the recurring cycle of failed uprisings in Iran. While acknowledging the country’s history of unsuccessful revolutions, she described the concept as ultimately hopeful, suggesting that another attempt at change is still possible.
Prague’s Media Nest builds international profile
The award represents a significant milestone for Prague-based Media Nest, which has positioned itself as a bridge between European and Iranian filmmaking. Founded by Farnam, the company focuses on international co-productions and projects centered on contemporary Iranian society and independent filmmakers.
In a statement following the Cannes victory, Media Nest called the award “an incredible recognition” for Ahangarani and the production team. The company has previously backed internationally recognized festival titles, including Endless Borders, which won the VPRO Big Screen Award at the 2023 International Film Festival Rotterdam.
The L’Œil d’or prize, re-established by Cannes and the French nonfiction authors’ society LaScam in 2015, has become one of the festival’s key documentary honors. Rehearsals for a Revolution emerged as the standout nonfiction title of the festival, reflecting both the continued international visibility of Iranian filmmakers and the increasing role of smaller European production hubs such as Prague in politically engaged world cinema.
