Hossein Keshavarz and Maryam Ataei’s film, ‘The Friend’s House is Here’, premiered at the recently concluded Sundance Film Festival in the U.S. Dramatic Competition category. The Iranian-American husband-wife filmmakers shot the film in Iran amid the extraordinary turbulence of 2025: the 12-day war following Israel’s strikes, nationwide demonstrations, and violent crackdowns. Their film, inspired by real accounts, portrays two young women artists expressing themselves and protecting each other in Tehran’s underground creative circle. On the sidelines of its premiere in Park City, Utah, the duo spoke to HT about smuggling their work into the festival, and depicting a new generation that is reshaping Iranian society and politics. Edited excerpts:
How difficult was it getting the film to Sundance?
Hossein: Everything happened so quickly. We edited the film in 14 days. When our film was accepted, we were in post-production in Iran, and the 2025-26 protests started. We were just uploading the film for press and festival screenings when they shut off the internet in Iran. All we had was a low-res version with a big watermark on it, and no way to get in touch with anyone. Then our crew called from the only place with internet access in Tehran — the United Nations office — and said they were on the way to the border with [a good print] hidden among religious materials. They had to cross so many checkpoints. Those four hours were excruciating for us.
Maryam: Even now, the version we showed was 2K, not 4K, and there were some typos. But at least it’s there.
Your film depicts a side of Iran we rarely get to see: that of young artists sharing joy, intimacy, and community. What sparked the idea?
Maryam: We were living in Tehran for three years recently, and went to so many underground art shows. We saw Mahshad Bahraminejad, the actress who plays Pari, one of the two main characters, in an improv play, which was better than most Broadway shows. The people of this improv group were so cool, so full of life, so funny. We just wanted to hang out with them. So we made a film where people could meet and hang out with them too.
Hossein: And we found our other lead actress, Mana Hana [who plays Hanna], on Instagram through a friend. She was dancing in front of a public monument, which may not sound like a big deal, but is so audacious in Tehran because there are cameras and security forces everywhere. We paired the two women together and magic happened. We wanted to make a film in which you could identify with these artists, understand their struggles, and hopefully be moved by it.
The film’s title is a nod to Abbas Kiarostami’s masterpiece. Tell us why that was important for you.
Hossein: We both really love [Iranian filmmaker] Abbas Kiarostami’s films, especially ‘Where is the Friend’s House?’ (1987). One of the things our film is about is people helping each other, and a sense of community. That’s what Kiarostami depicted so beautifully in his film, where one boy goes through many difficulties to return his friend’s notebook. ‘The Friend’s House is Here’ is about how the current generation is helping each other.
Maryam: We hear incredibly inspiring stories. For example, when a young singer’s Instagram account was suspended and she was asked to visit an investigation house, her friend drove her there and waited throughout the questioning. Another friend who runs a cafe in Tehran gave his stage to a female singer. [Women are banned from singing solo, especially in front of mixed-gender audiences in Iran]. When they were both arrested, it was their friends who arranged the bail money.
How does underground art flourish in Iran in the face of such censure?
Hossein: Underground is intimately connected with the culture, and this is what is changing the politics too. Either you work with the government and get everything vetted or you do it underground. This generation doesn’t want anything to do with the government. They don’t watch government TV but an underground film may be seen by millions because it’s shared on Telegram. That said, who you bring into your circle is the difference between being free and being in prison. We had made a film during the Green Movement in 2009 [an uprising of protests sparked by allegations of election fraud] so the cast and crew trusted us. But we struggled to get resources and extras because you never know who is a spy.
Maryam: It’s the same for underground theatre too. They don’t post on Instagram because they want to limit the audience and to be able to tell the story the way they want without getting arrested. Our friend took us to a play where in a couple of scenes, the female actor got completely nude on stage. It was revelatory that this kind of play happens in Iran.
How did you shoot the film without permissions?
Maryam: It was really difficult. Every outdoor scene is one-shot, there’s no counter shot. Get it right or you can’t use it. For example, in a scene where the two lead characters are buying a book, someone came and said you can’t shoot here. Though we talked to him and he backed away, our cinematographer said let’s leave this instant. You don’t want to get arrested and have them look through your footage. Unfortunately, many of the locations we used were later set on fire to crack down on the protests this year, in the northern Iranian city of Rasht.
Hossein: Sometimes people get fake permission for something that has nothing to do with what they’re shooting. But we were shooting after the (Israel-Iran 12-day war last June), and we couldn’t get permission because of heightened security. Plus, if you’re shooting scenes of women without a veil [as the actors in the film], your permissions don’t matter. Right now, after the ‘Woman, Life, Freedom’ movement, many women and girls don’t wear a hijab in the streets of Tehran. This young generation has achieved this freedom where they can at least dress the way they want to and be freer in public. But there hasn’t been a film that shows this vitality and freedom. They’re taking the public space and owning it and living the way they want to!
