Film archive, 2026

Head to Head

Director Ghasideh GOLMAKANI

1Festival entries

★Avg. rating

Bahar, an internationally acclaimed female film director, asks male actors to dress as women for her new film. The actors join the production in hopes of launching international careers or securing visas to leave Iran. But wearing hijabs and adopting feminine mannerisms in the sweltering heat proves far more grueling than expected, taking a serious toll on their pride. When the police show up on set, the situation spirals further out of control… Ghasideh Golmakani places men in the everyday realities of women in Iranian society, creating situations that are as absurd as they are revealing. Audiences may initially laugh at the absurdity, only to arrive at a bitter realization: this is what women endure every day. Both a film about filmmaking and an exhilarating yet incisive satire on the realities women face, this is a captivating debut feature.

Stills3

Film details

Director: Ghasideh GOLMAKANI
Country/Region: Iran, Germany
Year: 2026
Length: 80min
Original language: Persian
Elsewhere: Letterboxd IMDb TMDB Douban

Director

Ghasideh GOLMAKANI

Ghasideh Golmakani was born in Tehran. At eighteen, she moved to Paris to pursue her studies and earned her PhD with a dissertation on the struggles of Iranian women filmmakers before and after the Revolution. After returning to Iran, she began her career in film by making behind-the-scenes films for prominent directors. She has since directed numerous short films, including Limbo (2017), Violet (2019), and Spring in Autumn (2021). She made her feature debut with Head to Head, which was screened in the Discovery Section at the Toronto International Film Festival.

From Busan International Film Festival 2026, No. 31

Credits

Director: Ghasideh GOLMAKANI
Executive producer: Saba M. REZAEI, David M. LORENZ
Producer: Ghasideh GOLMAKANI
Cast: Mehrnoosh SATARI, Saeed NADERI, Ebrahim AZIZI, Amir HAJIMOHAMMADI, Reza MOHSENI, Saman MAZLOOMI, Elaheh FARAZMAND, Bahador BASTANHAGH, Mohammad SAEEDI, Lili FARHADPOUR
Screenplay: Ghasideh GOLMAKANI
Cinematography: Amin JAFARI
Production design: Melody ESMAEILI
Editing: Maryam HASHEMIPOUR
Music: Yoones ESKANDARI
Sound: Alireza ALAVIAN
World sales: DreamLab Films

Festival appearances1

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Head to HeadBusan International Film Festival 2026, No. 31A Window on Asian Cinema

Festival history1

釜山国际电影节, 2026A Window on Asian Cinema, Official selection

Film posters

Poster language