Googoosh: Iran's Daughter

Plot Summary

Googoosh was Iran's most famous and beloved pop diva, until she was silenced following the 1979 Islamic revolution when female singers were labeled “temptresses” and forbidden to release records or perform publicly in the presence of men. In this award-winning documentary from First Run Features, Googoosh: Iran's Daughter, Iranian-American filmmaker Farhad Zamani provides a thoughtful examination of the phenomenon of Googoosh. Made during the time when Googoosh was forbidden to grant interviews or perform, the film artfully pieces together clips from Googoosh’s career on stage and screen, creating a portrait of a woman who is a cultural icon for a country trapped between tradition and modernization. The rise and fall of her career—from her beginnings as a child star prodded by her entertainer father, up to and including her twenty years of silence—is placed in the political and historical context of the ever changing status of women in Iran. Zamani explores his enigmatic subject through interviews with close friends and family, including her only son. And although still banned from performing in her homeland, Googoosh has recently rekindled the hearts of Iranians living abroad on the international touring circuit with sold out shows at such venues as the Staples Center, Wembly Stadium, and the Air Canada Arena in Toronto.