Rehearsals for a Revolution, director Pegah Ahangarani‘s film about decades of political repression in Iran, won the L’Oeil d’or Prize today, the Cannes Film Festival’s top prize for documentary. Accepting the award in the presence of Cannes Film Festival leader Thierry Frémaux, Ahangarani dedicted the award to the people of Iran.

The jury, presided over by Oscar winner Mstyslav Chernov, chose Rehearsals for a Revolution from among 21 films screening in the festival and its sidebars.

“The jury is honored to award L’œil d’or – the Documentary Prize — to Rehearsals for a Revolution,” noted Chernov and fellow jurors Tabitha Jackson, Géraldine Pailhas, Lina Soualem, and Victor Chastanet. “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.”

The jury awarded a Special Mention to Tin Castle, directed by Alexander Murphy, a film about the O’Reillys, a family of Irish “Travelers” who live in a caravan.

“This film captivates us from the very first images and continues to impress us with cinematic craft at its highest level,” the jury wrote. “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’Oeil d’or prize, which comes with a €5,000 award for the winner, was recreated by the Cannes Film Festival and LaScam (French-speaking society for non-fiction authors). This is the 11th year for the prize.

The jury considered 13 films from the Official Selection, one documentary from Critics’ Week, three others from the Directors’ Fortnight, and four more films from the ACID sidebar.

Deadline’s Damon Wise interviewed Rehearsals for a Revolution director Ahangarani just before the festival started, noting her background as an actress.

“Rehearsals for a Revolution is made up of six chapters from Ahangarani’s life, ranging from her memories of her filmmaker parents, and the tragic death of her uncle Rashid, to the birth of her daughter,” Wise wrote. The filmmaker told Wise she was still “getting used to” the title she chose for her film.

“What convinced me, I think, is that the word ‘rehearsal’ often refers to art and cinema, which reflects the fact that I myself come from an acting career,” Ahangarani told Wise. “But it also refers to the voice of Rashid, in the third chapter, when he says that Iran is a country of failed revolutions. This is something that might sound sad and a bit desperate, but at the same time, it’s true. There’s been quite a lot of failed revolutions, but there is also hope. Rehearsal means there’s still time for one final revolution.”

The Critics’ Week sidebar is on a roll. As my colleague Melanie Goodfellow notes, recent Cannes Critics’ Week documentary selections The Brink Of Dreams and Imago went on to win Cannes’ Golden Eye in 2024 and 2025 respectively.

More to come…