Mehran Haghighi presented his paper, “Performing Beauty: A Filmmaker’s Journey with Nastaʿlīq,” at the 15th Biennial Conference of the Association for Iranian Studies, held at Utrecht University in the Netherlands.
Performing Beauty | سماع قلم was recently screened for members of the Goldman Sachs Americas Muslim Forum, New York and Dallas.
Following its May 22 screening at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Performing Beauty | سماع قلم received a warm and thoughtful response from attendees. Viewers responded strongly to the film’s visual refinement, emotional depth, and cultural significance, with particular appreciation for its pacing, editorial rhythm, spiritual atmosphere, and its presentation of Persian calligraphy as a living artistic tradition. The film was also praised for its music selections and for the way music and image worked together throughout the film.
A private screening of Performing Beauty | سماع قلم will be held at Khaneh Cinema in Tehran for a select audience of filmmakers, calligraphers, and friends of the project. The gathering will offer an intimate viewing experience for those connected to Persian art and cinema, many of whom have contributed to shaping the spirit of the film.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York will host a private by invitation screening of Performing Beauty | سماع قلم in May 2026 at the Bonnie J. Sacerdote Lecture Hall. The event will bring together scholars, curators, and audiences interested in Persian art, calligraphy, and aesthetics.
Homa Films is deeply grateful to the Soudavar Memorial Foundation for its generous support of Performing Beauty | سماع قلم. This grant acknowledges the film’s dedication to exploring Persian art and cultural heritage and will contribute to its international presentation in 2025–2026.
Persian Heritage Foundation (PHF) has lent its support to Homa Films for our upcoming documentary Art, Beauty, Music, and God - The Story of Nasta’liq (working title), which is currently in production. Established in 1983, PHF is committed to supporting and promoting appreciation of all aspects of the Persianate world. Their generous donation will further enable us to share the story of nasta'liq, and the ways in which it transcends syllabary by encompassing both information and art.
The Qajar art film 'Of Kings and Paintings' will be distributed theatrically through TheatreHD, which has made the arts accessible by bringing the best ballet, opera, and theater productions and fine art films for the past ten years. Through their ArtInCinemas project, they will provide both television broadcasting and theater screening throughout Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Uzbekistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Moldova, and Kyrgyzstan. Additionally, the film will be made available worldwide as video on demand (VOD).
Spring is now in full swing, and we have some news: "Of Kings and Paintings" is now available to view on six new streaming services! Experience the captivating art of Iran's Qajar Dynasty with our documentary, lauded by Video Librarian as "outstanding," from the following video-on-demand platforms:
"Art, Beauty, Music and God – The Story of Nasta'liq" (working title) has received support from the American Institute of Iranian Studies (AIIrS). Established in 1967, AIIrS is a nonprofit consortium of American universities and museums recognized as the primary conduit for promoting academic and cultural exchange between Iran and the US. It is also the only organization in the US currently dedicated to funding research in Iranian studies. We are excited to partner with AIIrS and continue sharing the cultural riches of Iran and the Persianate world.
Learn more about the film and our crew members at nastaliqthefilm.com.
Homa Films' Qajar art documentary Of Kings and Paintings (dir. Sara Nodjoumi) has been picked up by Alexander Street, a ProQuest company known as the preeminent academic video online distributor in the world. The film is also available for personal streaming on Tubi, as well as the Kiarostami Foundation's on-demand platform Docunight.
The Powerhouse Museum in Sydney, Australia, screens Homa Films' Qajar art documentary "Of Kings and Paintings" (dir. Sara Nodjoumi). The screening is presented as part of the museum's Iranzamin exhibition, its first-ever survey of traditional Persian artifacts and examination of Persia's historically significant artistic influence around the globe. The screening takes place at the museum's art deco theater Kings Cinema. Learn more at the Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences' official website.
Educational Media Reviews Online (EMRO), a prominent open access database of critical media reviews, shares a thorough recommendation of Homa Film's latest documentary "Of Kings and Paintings" (dir. Sara Nodjoumi):
This video is an excellent introduction to Qajar art. There are voluminous examples of work shown, both in full and in close-up detail. The commentary is informative, without being too technical or overly scholarly.
Video Librarian, renowned as the number one resource for discovering films for libraries and classrooms, offers a "strong" recommendation for Homa Films' most recent film Of Kings and Paintings (dir. Sara Nodjoumi):
"An outstanding documentary that lavishly and informatively explores the evolution of palace art during Iran's Qajar Dynasty (1785-1925), "Of Kings and Paintings" puts things in an interesting historical context right from the start. Showing a 19th century map in which Iran, known at the time as Persia, is clearly squeezed between Russia and British-occupied India, the film underscores the importance of Persia sending signals that foreign occupiers and would-be colonizers should think twice about invading."
Read the full review on Video Librarian's official site.
On November 12, 2020, the Department of Islamic Art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art presented a virtual screening of Homa Films' documentary Of Kings and Paintings. The screening took place as part of the Department of Islamic Art's "Islamic Art in Solitude" series, and shared with viewers the "lavish history of the extraordinary art" of the Qajar era:
In interviews with history and art experts in the field, the film explores this remarkable era in Iranian history that straddled tradition and modernity.
The screening was followed by a well-attended live Zoom Q&A with Professor Abbas Amanat (William Graham Sumner Professor of History: Director, Yale Program in Iranian Studies), Dr. Maryam Ekhtiar (curator, Islamic art), Dr. Layla Diba (independent scholar and Qajar Expert), Sara Nodjoumi (director), and Mehran Haghighi (producer). Watch the recording on The Met's Department of Islamic Art's page for the panel's insightful documentary commentary.
We are thrilled to announce that Sara Natelli, design director of Sara Natelli Design Boutique, was named the recipient of two 2020 Indigo Design Awards for her work on Homa Films’ logo and brand identity.
On Dec. 3, 2019, Homa Films’ Qajar art documentary Of Kings and Paintings screened at The Whitney and Betty MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies at Yale University. Directed by Sara Nodjoumi, the documentary has been lauded as a “valuable contribution to pedagogy through its analysis by the most influential historians and art historians of Qajar Iran.”
