Twelve international documentaries will be featured in the Portrait section of the 19th Cinema Verite International Documentary Film Festival in Iran. Documentary enthusiasts will have the opportunity to watch these compelling portraits in the festival’s international segment.
The showcased films include:
• Ennio by Giuseppe Tornatore, a profile of legendary composer Ennio Morricone.
• Shadows Behind the Frame by Ivan Baturin, about Lyudmila Kozakova, one of the first women listed among film production designers.
• Lost Memories in an Imaginary Storm by Victor Luna, which explores old VHS tapes found by the director, recorded by his grandfather.
• Marlon Brando by V. Trent, focusing on the reconstruction of a lost trailer for a film directed by the iconic actor.
• Once Upon a Time in Cinema by Martin George, a short documentary capturing individuals’ memories of their first cinema experiences.
• Presence of Shadows by Sami Jouber van Ingen, about Robert J. Flaherty, the father of documentary cinema; the filmmaker, one of Flaherty’s descendants, searches for unseen archival family footage.
• Puppet Play by Valery Ryabin, examining contemporary Russian puppet animation through the experiences of students Marina Kurchfskaya and Stanislav Sokolov at the VGIK film school and animation studios.
• Dimitris Makris: Portrait of a Director by Paolo Stemini and Francesco Tasara, a poetic documentary tracing Makris’ journey from film studies in Rome to becoming a prominent figure in Greek cinema.
• Three Deaths of Merian C. Cooper by Rafał Salata and Paweł Gargas, about the life of the American filmmaker behind King Kong.
• Vlasta: Not an Eternal Memory by Candela Vi and Tino Pereira, documenting the life of Vlasta Lah, the first woman director of a feature-length sound film in Argentina.
• What a Crazy Act by Rob Nilsson and Denny Dee, a 54-minute portrait of Nilsson’s acclaimed Nine Evening Films, a pioneering series in independent cinema produced in the Tenderloin district of San Francisco.
• Cahide Sonku: Turkey’s First Woman Director and Producer by Nurullah Guzel, exploring the life and career of Cahide Sonku, a trailblazer in Turkish cinema.
The 19th Cinema Verite International Documentary Film Festival, organized under the direction of Mohammad Hamidi Moghadam, will take place from December 10–16, 2025, in Iran.