Farhang Foundation

09/24/2026

The West Coast premiere of BLIND RUNNER is coming to South Coast Repertory! 🎭 Tickets and more info at Farhang.org/BlindRunner

“Mesmerizing, Stunning, Deeply Moving” - The Guardian

Written and directed by internationally acclaimed playwright Amir Reza Koohestani, and starring Mohammad Aghebati and Ainaz Azarhoush, this moving play follows three Iranians whose lives become connected through an extraordinary race.

📍 South Coast Repertory, Costa Mesa�
📅 October 18–November 8, 2026�🗣️
Performed in Persian with English supertitles

Farhang Foundation followers: your exclusive ticket offer starts today. Use code FARHANG for 25% off full-price tickets.
Full details and tickets: Farhang.org/BlindRunner

Blind Runner interweaves the destinies of three Iranians in an international multi-media hit proclaimed “mesmerizing” by The Guardian. At the insistence of his wife, a political prisoner, a man agrees to help a blind woman train for a race in Paris. After placing third, they take on a second cha...

09/12/2026

Farhang Foundation congratulates acclaimed filmmaker Ali Asgari on the world premiere of his latest masterpiece, A BIT OF LIGHT, at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival! 🎬✨
We look forward to presenting the U.S. premiere of this extraordinary film this October and sharing it with audiences here in the United States. Stay tuned for full details to be announced soon.

Congratulations to Mr. Asgari and his entire cast and crew on this remarkable accomplishment, a proud moment for brave Iranian cinema!

Farhang Foundation was deeply honored to support Mr. Asgari and his cast’s presence at the Venice premiere.

09/07/2026

🎬 SAN FRANCISCO PREMIERE — ONE NIGHT ONLY
Tickets and more information via Farhang.org/CinemaSF.
Acclaimed writer-director Saeed Roustaee (Leila’s Brothers) returns with WOMAN AND CHILD, a gripping story of grief, betrayal and a mother pushed to fight the school system, the courts and even her own family.

Starring Parinaz Izadyar as Mahnaz, a widowed nurse seeking a new beginning, and Payman Maadi as her partner Hamid and in his breakthrough role Sinan Mohebi as Aliyar.

🏆 Official Selection — Festival de Cannes�📅 Sunday, September 27�🕖 7 PM�📍 de Young Museum, San Francisco

Part of the UCLA Celebration of Iranian Cinema presented by the UCLA Film & Television Archive and Farhang Foundation and the rewnowned de Young museum of San Francisco.

09/03/2026

🌙 DUST AND THE MOON 🌙
Farhang Foundation proudly presents the world premiere of “Dust and the Moon,” the official music video from RITE OF STRINGS, a new contemporary global music ensemble creating a sound that feels both ancient and new. Exclusively for Farhang Performances.

Composed and arranged by Ehsan Matoori, “Dust and the Moon” explores the relationship between what is earthly and what remains beyond our reach. Dust evokes memory, displacement, fragility, and the traces we leave behind; the moon suggests distance, light, continuity, and hope.

Built around the distinctive combination of santoor, violin, bass, and drums, the music moves between intimacy and openness, rooted in tradition while shaped by contemporary improvisation and the individual voices of the ensemble.

Performed by RITE OF STRINGS:
Ehsan Matoori — Santoor�
Edward Perez — Bass�
Eylem Basaldi — Violin
�Engin Kaan Günaydın — Drums

“Dust and the Moon” is the title track from RITE OF STRINGS’ debut album, out now on all streaming platforms via Bright Shiny Things.

Recorded at Pinch Recording Studio in New York City in May 2026.

Video Art Director — Mahya Farmani�
Videography — Yasunari Rowan and Satish Pennathur�
Mixed & Mastered by Kamilo Kratc

08/19/2026

🎬 BAHRAM BEYZAIE: AN AMERICAN CINEMATHEQUE TRIBUTE
Tickets & more info at Farhang.org/Beyzaie

Farhang Foundation is proud to partner with the American Cinematheque, and the PARS Equality Center, for a four-day tribute honoring the extraordinary legacy of the great Bahram Beyzaie, master filmmaker, playwright, scholar, and leading figure of the Iranian New Wave movement.

Spanning four decades of essential work, the series celebrates Beyzaie’s singular cinematic vision and his profound engagement with Persian literature, mythology, history, and cultural memory.
Tickets and more info via link in bio or Farhang.org/Beyzaei

📅 AUGUST 27–30, 2026
📍 Los Feliz Theatre (Los Angeles) & Aero Theatre (Santa Monica)
🎟 Tickets: $15

SCREENING SCHEDULE
Thursday, August 27 at 7 PM
Los Feliz Theatre
KILLING MAD DOGS
Preceded by DIALOGUE WITH THE WIND

Friday, August 28 at 3:15 PM
Los Feliz Theatre
DOWNPOUR
Preceded by JOURNEY and UNCLE MUSTACHE

Saturday, August 29 at 1 PM
Los Feliz Theatre
BALLAD OF TARA

Sunday, August 30 at 6 PM
Aero Theatre — Double Feature
BASHU, THE LITTLE STRANGER
THE STRANGER AND THE FOG
Films are presented in Persian or other Iranian languages with English subtitles.

Join us in celebrating an artist whose work forever transformed Iranian cinema and preserved its cultural memory for generations to come.

The American Cinematheque honors legendary Iranian filmmaker and playwright Bahram Beyzaie with a tribute spanning four decades of essential work. Widely regarded as an ostād (“master”) of Persian literature and mythology, Beyzaie made those traditions central to a body of art inseparable from ...

08/16/2026

DIVINE COMEDY, a film by Ali Asgari - Exclusive San Francisco Premiere, Sept 25 at the de Young Museum. Tickets via Farhang.org/CinemaSF

Iranian writer-director Bahram Ark (Skin, Animal) plays Bahram, an Iranian writer-director who has achieved fame on the international festival circuit but has yet to have one of his films screened in Iran. After his latest is again denied a permit, he and his producer Sadaf (Sadaf Asgari) set out on her moped determined to find a way to get it on screen with the help of a hodgepodge of decidedly eccentric characters. Bahram’s situation is all too familiar to co-writer-director Ali Asgari (Terrestrial Verses) and his regular collaborators here, who use romantic comedy tropes to illuminate the absurdities — and dangers — faced by filmmakers in Iran.

Director: Ali Asgari
Screenwriter: Alireza Khatami, Bahram Ark, Bahman Ark, Ali Asgari
Cast: Bahram Ark, Sadaf Asgari, Hossein Soleimani