Cinema-Ye Azad at the 2026 UCLA Celebration of Iranian Cinema
As part of the 2026 UCLA Celebration of Iranian Cinema, presented by the UCLA Film & Television Archive at the Hammer Museum, Farhang Foundation was honored to support a special series dedicated to Cinema-Ye Azad (Free Cinema), the groundbreaking independent film movement of pre-revolutionary Iran. Hosted by the incredible Sara Seyed, the program welcomed Arta Barzanji, who joined us in person, and Hadi Alipanah, who joined live via Zoom from Tehran. The screenings featured HOW FRIGHTENING IS THE DARKNESS OF THE SOUL! and FROM ISFAHAN TO ABARKOOH by Nasib Namibia, as well as MIRNASIR AND THE ILL-FATED GENIE BY Behnam Jafari. Together, these rare works and the thoughtful conversations that followed celebrated the bold creativity, experimentation, and lasting legacy of Iran’s Cinema-Ye Azad movement.
