Pegah Ahangarani’s Rehearsals For A Revolution, directed by Pegah Ahangarani, was handed May 22 the L’Œil d’or, the main doc award at Cannes 2026. The prize is valued at €5,000. Alexander Murphy received a Special Mention for Tin Castle.
In Rehearsals For A Revolution, from the early days of the Iranian Revolution, until the 2026 Iran war, actress Pegah Ahangarani traces back personal memories, forming the portrait of a country shaped by political repression and in constant hope for definitive change. Read the Business Doc Europe interview with Pegah Ahangarani.
The jury said: “This film allows us to enter the intricate and complex reality of contemporary Iran through a braiding of personal, historical, and poetic cinema. In its search to find the language to express the truths of the moment, Rehearsals for a Revolution is not afraid to question its own gestures — to doubt itself and to be vulnerable. The jury was struck by the masterful script and vivid, urgent storytelling, and by a filmmaker who carried us through violent waves of history while never losing sight of the value of each individual human life.”
Alexander Murphy’s Critics’ Week title Tin Castle received a Special Mention from the jury.
In the film, along a long-forgotten road, the O’Reillys live in a rundown trailer stranded in the middle of the fields. Pa’, Lisa, and their ten children weather the seasons in their tin castle, heirs to a way of life on borrowed time. Under threat of eviction, their tenuous balance falters, yet – steadfast in their tradition – they resist. The children laugh, the dogs bark, the trailer holds on – but for how long?
The jury said: “This film captivates us from the very first images and continues to impress us with cinematic craft at its highest level. The filmmakers gaze directed at his heroes and heroines expresses their intimacy without invading it. Through its precisely calibrated perspective Tin Castle invites us to reflect on the position and role of the documentary camera and deploys love as a cinematic and political force.”
The L’Œil d’or jury consisted of: Ukrainian director Mstyslav Chernov; New York Film Forum director Tabitha Jackson, French actress Géraldine Pailhas, French-Algerian-Palestinian director and actress Lina Soualem, and French journalist Victor Castanet.
