Pegah Ahangurani Calls Memory a Form of Revolution — SkimNews
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- Rehearsals for a Revolution combines half a century of Iranian history with Ahangurani’s personal story of exile to London, weaving both into a single narrative.
- Yad, the Persian word for memory and remembrance, anchors the film and gives Ahangurani and editor Ashtiani a framework for interweaving separate timelines.
- Pegah Ahangurani joined editor Arash Ashtiani for a wide-ranging discussion with IndieWire editor-in-chief Brent Lang at the Art of the Doc event in Los Angeles.
- Authoritarians in Iran censor people and try to erase their memories and past, replacing them with their own version of history, Ahangurani said.
- Remembering and mourning victims must precede healing, Ahangurani argued, warning that people should not allow authoritarians to take their memories.
Why it matters: By centering half a century of Iranian history and Ahangurani’s exile, the film makes remembrance a direct challenge to official versions of the past. Ahangurani’s sequence—remember the victims, mourn them, then begin to heal—turns memory into an active ethical practice for viewers.
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