From Berlin to Brazil, Iranian Films Gain New Int’l Festival Exposure
TEHRAN -- Iranian filmmaker and animator Ashkan Rahgozar has been selected to serve on the jury of the New Talents competition at the ninth Festival of Animation Berlin, while his feature animation Juliet and the King will screen at the Berlin event.
Three Iranian short films — Lion Hill, Red Rectangle and Leftover — are also continuing their international festival runs.
Rahgozar, the writer-director and founder of Hoorakhsh Studios, will join the jury of the New Talents competition, which showcases animated shorts made by students at film and animation schools around the world. Hoorakhsh Studios confirmed the appointment and Rahgozar’s participation in the festival’s 2026 edition.
The ninth Festival of Animation Berlin is scheduled for Oct. 8-11 in Berlin. The festival’s 2026 program lists Juliet and the King as a feature-animation special screening.
Rahgozar will also participate in a festival talk titled “Juliet and the King: Animation Between Art and Challenge,” discussing the making of the hand-drawn animated feature in Iran. The talk is scheduled for Oct. 11.
Rahgozar has previously served on international festival juries, including the Satoshi Kon Award for Excellence in Animation at Fantasia in 2021, the national competition of the Tehran International Short Film Festival and the main competition of the Thessaloniki Animation Festival, according to Hoorakhsh Studios.
Lion Hill Heads to AGROFILM
Benyamin Eslami’s short film Lion Hill has been selected for the competition at the 42nd International Film Festival AGROFILM in Slovakia.
The festival focuses on films dealing with agriculture, food, forestry, rural life, natural-resource protection and sustainable development. The 2026 edition is scheduled for Sept. 22-24.
Lion Hill follows Asieh, a teacher who encounters difficulties traveling to the village where she teaches.
Red Rectangle Lands Four Festival Selections
Yousef Beigi’s Red Rectangle has been selected for four international festivals in Italy, Turkey and Brazil.
The short is part of the 2026 program of Festival Entretodos – Human Rights Short Film Festival in São Paulo. The festival lists the film as a 2026 Iranian production, directed by Beigi, with a running time of 12 minutes and 16 seconds. Its story follows a teenage girl near Iran’s border who tries to find a place to play football in an area where the land has been mined.
The film has also been selected for the 18th Roma Film Corto in Italy, the International Anti-War Film Festival in Turkey and the 29th Marano Ragazzi Spot Festival in Italy.
Leftover Wins Golden Colosseum
Hussein Pourkhalili’s short film Leftover has received the Golden Colosseum award at an international festival in Rome, Italy.
Written and directed by Pourkhalili, the film centers on Abdullah, whose rooster is taken by Mahmoud because of a family debt. In an effort to recover the rooster, Abdullah is forced to accept a difficult condition.
Leftover previously received the Golden Butterfly for Best Short Film at the 37th International Film Festival for Children and Young Adults and a special award from the festival secretary at the 42nd Tehran International Short Film Festival.
Together, the four films extend the international festival presence of Iranian filmmakers across animation, human-rights cinema, environmental and rural themes, and short-form narrative filmmaking.