An Incomplete Calendar, Essay film, 77 Minutes, DCP with 5.1, Canada, Venezuela, Iran, Turkey | 2026
“An Incomplete Calendar” is a story about oil, music, and the Third World project. The film explores the remarkable and untold story of a musical vinyl titled “Rhymes and Songs for OPEC,” recorded in 1980 by the Concert Choir of Central University of Venezuela to commemorate the 20th anniversary of Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), established in Baghdad in 1960.
The film interweaves forgotten songs and rarely seen archives to tell a different story of oil, not as a commodity but rather as a political leverage that was used for the liberation struggles in Palestine and building Pan-Arab solidarity, a transnational project that was shattered by the triumph of neoliberal economics in 1970s.
This is the final episode of a trilogy of essay by Sanaz Sohrabi that unpack the relationship between political economy of images, archival technologies, and visual cultures of resource extraction in Iran and broader West Asia.
IN CONVERSATION WITH
Jihan El-Tahri
Murtaza Vali
Laleh Khalili
Layla Maghribi
Eduardo Prato Moros
Leonardo Montaño Salas
AWARDS
First Feature Film Loridan-Ivens Award & Young Jury Award-GNCR
Cinéma du Réel International Documentary Film Festival. France (2026)
Best Feature Film / International Competition
Olhar do Cinema Curitiba International Film Festival. Brazil (2026)
International Jury Award Winner
Pesaro International Film Festival. Italy (2026)
Festival and Alternative Screenings:
World Premiere: Cinéma du Réel International Documentary Film Festival | International Competition. France (2026)
FICCI International Film Festival Cartagena de Indias. Colombia (2026)
Open City Documentary Festival. UK (2026)
Alchemy Film and Moving Image Festival. UK (2026)
Subversive Film Festival. Croatia (2026)
Habitar el Cine Caracas International Contemporary Film Festival. Venezuela (2026)
Festival Ciné-Palestine. France (2026)
Olhar do Cinema Curitiba International Film Festival. Brazil (2026)
Pesaro International Film Festival. Italy (2026)
Zanzibar International Film Festival. Tanzania (2026)
Golden Apricot International Film Festival Yerevan. Armenia (2026)
Black Star Film Festival. Philadelphia (2026)
DokuFest International Documentary and Short Film Festival. Kosovo (2026)
Festival de Cinéma de Douarnenez. France (2026)
DocBuenosAires Muestra Internacional de Cine Documental- Opening Film. Argentina (2026)
Villa de Medici Film Festival. Italy (2026)
IHRFFA International Human Rights Film Festival. Albania (2026)
DMZ International Documentary Film Festival. South Korea (2026)
Rencontres Cinématographiques de Béjaïa. Algeria (2026)
EDOC Encuentros del Otro Cine. Ecuador (2026)
Twin Cities Arab Film Festival. United States (2026)
Vancouver International Film Festival. Canada (2026)
Boston Palestine Film Festival. United States (2026)
RIDM Montréal International Documentary Film Festival. Canada (2026)
FICValdivia International Film Festival - Opening Film. Chile (2026)
PRESS:
ICS International Cinephile Society, by Marc van de Klashorst
International Documentary Association Magazine, by Jonathan Ali
“Interview with Festival Chronicle, Croatia.” Interview with Sara Simić.
“What is a complete image of oil?” Interview Bogatoz Koilybayeva, Senses of Cinema.
“This Unlikely Sonic Map of Oil.” Interview with Heather Canlas-Rigg. Gallery 44, Toronto.
World Sales and Festival Distribution: Kino Rebelde. Watch the Trailer.
For an expanded credit list of the production team behind An Incomplete Calendar please visit Kino Rebelde’s page.