Googoosh: Iran's Daughter
A film by Farhad Zamani 158 minutes, documentary, color, English & Farsi w/ English subtitles, 2000
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Synopsis
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. WINNER! - Vancouver Iranian Film Festival Reviews "Googoosh: Iran's Daughter is a most-fascinating film." - Global Rhythm Magazine "A fascinating portrayal of a woman embodying something
more than that uneasy mélange of star power and vulnerability that Western voyeurs
witnessed in the arc of Marilyn and Elvis, Marvin or Janis. Googoosh is a proper
noun, a verb, and an adjective…" "A symbol of censorship and oppression… Zamani paints an impressionist and honoring portrait of Googoosh.." - World Pulse Magazine "Both a feminist biography and a cultural history of postcolonial Iran." - Chicago Reader "Her enchanting songs echo the poignancy of a long-suffering
nation." - Time Magazine Links Read an interview with director Farhad Zamani in The Boston Examiner, 8/19/09. Recommended Reading Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi All the Shah's Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror by Stephen Kinzer Close Up: Iranian Cinema, Past, Present, and Future by Hamid Dabashi Disc Features ● Googoosh Photo Gallery
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