The Friend’s House is Here

Hossein Keshavarz, Maryam Ataei
Iran | 2026 | 95 min.

Pari and Hanna are best friends and active participants in Tehran’s vibrant underground arts scene. But the risk of running afoul of the government is omnipresent, forcing difficult decisions.

Pari and Hanna are best friends, roommates, and active participants in Tehran's underground arts scene. Pari, like the woman who plays her, Mahshad Bahraminejad, is a playwright and director producing plays with political themes. Hanna, like the woman who plays her, Hana Mana, is a dancer and choreographer who posts her improvisational dance routines in front of recognizable historical landmarks. They are surrounded by a supportive community of fellow artists, whom they meet at rehearsals, galleries, and dinner parties, creating and sustaining a vital and upbeat creative milieu. But Pari and Hanna perform their work without governmental permission and the pressure and danger they face never recede too far into the background, forcing difficult decisions.

Shot in secret and smuggled out of Iran on a hard drive, the film premiered at Sundance Film Festival in January even as widespread protests were taking place across the country, winning the U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Ensemble Cast. Meanwhile, because of US restrictions on visas for Iranian nationals, the two lead actresses were unable to attend the film's premiere.

—Justine Barda

• Director:Hossein Keshavarz, Maryam Ataei

• Principal Cast:Hana Mana, Mahshad Bahraminejad, Farzad Namavari, Zorheh Piran

• Country:Iran, USA

• Year:2026

• Running Time:95 min.

• Producer:Hossein Keshavarz, Maryam Ataei

• Screenplay:Hossein Keshavarz, Maryam Ataei

• Cinematographers:Ali Ehsani

• Editors:Hossein Keshavarz

• Music:Arian Saleh

• Awards:Sundance Film Festival 2026 (U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Ensemble Cast)

• Filmography:Keshavarz: Dog Sweat (2011); Ataei: Debut Feature Film

• Language:Persian

• Has Subtitles:Yes

• International Sales:WME