Film at Lincoln Center is pleased to announce the world premiere of South of Tehran, a new short film by Kleber Mendonça Filho featuring Iranian director Jafar Panahi, made during the 63rd New York Film Festival in 2025. The first film in a new annual initiative titled NYFF Encounters, South of Tehran will premiere in the 64th New York Film Festival’s Spotlight section and screen in additional presentations alongside select features throughout the festival. NYFF Encounters is a new annual commissioning program that invites one filmmaker with a film in the New York Film Festival to create an original short during the course of the festival. NYFF Artistic Director Dennis Lim said, “The New York Film Festival is, above all, a place of encounter—among filmmakers, audiences, films, and the city itself. “I love the fact that my next film was suggested by Dennis Lim, much like a challenge,” said Mendonça Filho.