The United Kingdom has selected “Rehearsals for a Revolution” as its Best International Feature Oscar entry for the upcoming Academy Awards. The documentary, made by filmmaker Pegah Ahangarani, chronicles 40 years of Iranian history through the lens of a director living in exile.
A BAFTA film committee made the choice, putting the film forward as the country’s official submission. The film still has to compete against other nations’ submissions and foreign-language entries that qualified through festival wins before the Academy decides on nominees.
What Rehearsals For A Revolution Is About
“Rehearsals for a Revolution” grew out of Ahangarani’s own experience of living in exile from Iran and reestablishing herself in London. The documentary draws on personal archives, home videos, footage of street protests, newspapers and recorded voices to build its portrait of four decades of Iranian history.
Sony Pictures Classics is distributing the film, which was released in the U.K. in September. It will have qualifying runs in New York and Los Angeles in December before opening on Jan. 8, 2027 at the Landmark’s Nuart Theatre in L.A. and the Film Forum in New York.
Festival Record And Awards
Before landing the UK submission, “Rehearsals for a Revolution” built a festival résumé that included a win of the L’Oeil d’Or prize at the Cannes Film Festival. The film also screened at the Telluride Film Festival and the Toronto International Film Festival.
The Maysles Documentary Center gave the film an Albie Award, adding to its string of recognitions ahead of the Oscar race.
Submission Versus Nomination
Being named the UK’s official entry is a submission to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, not an Oscar nomination. The film now joins a pool of entries from other countries and faces competition from films that already earned qualifying festival awards before the Academy narrows the field.
IndieWire noted the film carries a chance at nominations in both the Best International Feature and Best Documentary Feature categories, a crossover achieved by only a handful of films in Oscar history. Romania’s “Collective,” North Macedonia’s “Honeyland” and Denmark’s “Flee” each managed that double nomination in past years.
What’s Next
“Rehearsals for a Revolution” now competes in the Best International Feature race. Earlier this year, the Academy changed its rules to allow foreign films that won qualifying festival awards to be considered even if not submitted by their country of origin.
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