All language subtitles for A Revolution On Canvas [2023] [1080p] eng

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[rustling]

[soft music playing]

[video call ringing]

[man in Farsi]

[Sara]

[Mahmoud]

[Sara]

[crowd shouting]

[gunfire]

[reporter in English]
The end of Iran's monarchy

came early today
when Khomeini's followers

took control
of the palace of the Shah.

-[gunfire]
-[shouting]

[reporter 2] But there are fears
among at least some Iranians

that the repression of the Shah
may soon be replaced

by the bigotry
of the Muslim priests.

[crowd shouting]

[Nicky in Farsi]

[chanting]

[in English]
You can't just let it go.

You can read what happened
in the revolution

through those paintings.

Historically, those are
really important.

They not be
greatest painting of all time,

but there is a record
of that time.

And it's a real record.

I want that.

I want to somehow get it out,

bring it here.

[mellow music playing]

[vocalizations]

[woman 1] He was one of the most
important living artists

in Iran
and in the United States

in our lifetime.

[woman 2] The very foundation
of his paintings

are people
versus people of power.

[woman 1] His art
is threatening to people.

It's threatening not just
to the Iranian establishment.

It's also threatening
to some people in the West.

[woman 3]

[vocalizations continue]

[woman 1]
Did someone put the art

in a special storage area?

Did someone steal the art?

Did the art get destroyed?

We don't know.

[woman 4]
It's like somebody dying.

The body has never been found.

It's just a big chunk
of-of his life

that has disappeared.

So there's the trauma
of losing his country,

and then there's the trauma
of losing part of himself.

[vocalizations continue]

[camera shutter clicks]

[Sara] That exhibition
changed our life forever.

[camera shutter clicks]

[music fades]

Do you see this one?

Yeah, I hate that.

[Nicky laughs]

[in Farsi]

[in English] I just hate
those pictures of me...

nude.

What are these paint--
When were these done?

1981.

You wanna write it
on the back of it?

[in Farsi]

-[in English] No.
-Just, just with a pencil, 1981.

-Can I write it?
-No.

Are you sure, 1981?

[Nicky] Yes.

[Sara] So, are these similar
to the work that's missing?

[Nicky] A little bit, yes.

[vibrant music playing]

Sara, just be careful.

The shoulder of this lady

would be matched
with the shoulder of this guy.

He's going to be half man,
half woman.

Something like that.

[Sara] This is
the evangelical hypocrisy,

maybe?

Okay, you can make
whatever you want,

the story.

[in Farsi]

[Mahmoud]

[Sara]

[Mahmoud]

[call to prayer echoing]

[woman in English] Who is Nicky
meeting again?

So Nicky is meeting
Mahmoudreza Bahmanpour.

He lives in Iran,

but we're meeting in Turkey

because Nicky can't go to Iran.

Bahmanpour knows people
in the museum,

and the plan is for him to help
us get the paintings back.

[indistinct greetings]

[Mahmoud in Farsi]

[Nicky]

[laughter]

[Nicky]

[crowd cheering]

[reporter in English]
The Imperial Majesty,

king of kings,

Shahanshah of Iran.

He's one of the richest men
in the world.

He appoints the prime minister.

He can dissolve the parliament.

He controls the army.
He controls the press.

Very little criticism of him
is allowed.

[Karim]
The Shah was an ally

of the United States
and the British.

He was educated in the West.

In some ways,
he ruled at the behest

of Western powers.

[applause]

[soft, gloomy music playing]

In the early 1970s,
there was an oil boom

which provided resources

to the Shah and the Queen

to do things
no Iranian leaders in history

had been able to do,

whether that was to throw
lavish international parties

or build world-class
art collection.

[Shiva] The Tehran Museum
of Contemporary Art

opened in 1978,

and, of course,
the Queen of Iran,

the Empress Farah
was its patron.

[Nicky]

[Shiva] When the revolution
was successful

in overthrowing the Shah,

one of the first institutions

that the revolutionaries
took over

was the Tehran Museum
of Contemporary Art.

[Mahmoud in Farsi]

[Sara]

[Mahmoud]

-[inaudible dialogue]
-[gulls calling]

[call to prayer echoing]

[tranquil music playing]

[Nicky in English]
After I escaped,

I didn't think
I would never go back to Iran.

[reporter] Images
are trickling out

from across Iran

where thousands
have taken to the streets

in daring acts of defiance

never seen before
on this scale.

[reporter 2] More women
have been arrested

for their activism
by the Iranian Morality Police

as the movement has grown.

[reporter 3]
Extraordinary protests

continue across the country

over the death
of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini.

Thousands of young Iranians

have joined the demonstrations,

with women leading the charge.

I believed that religion
was made

to put down women,
and, uh,

it's a men decision
to control women

from every aspect of life.

[Sara] When did you make these?

Uh, about a few months ago
when, uh,

the revolution started in Iran.

They are holding a gun,

and, uh, I'm suggesting
that it's time

to get armed.

[Linda] Nahid Hagigat
was producing work

about Iranian women

before anyone else.

She was also a role model
for Iranian women artists,

so all are standing
on her shoulders in a way.

Whether they knew
of her work or not,

she made their ascent possible.

[gentle music playing]

[Nahid] I entered the School
of Visual Art in Tehran,

and I was very happy there.

It was like a renaissance.

Nickzad got into the university
a year after me.

[Nicky] I saw Nahid
and she was laughing,

and I thought maybe
she's much more approachable

than the other people.

[Nahid] Nickzad was a kid
from Kermanshah.

He had a very thick accent,

so we made fun of his accent.

-[Sara] Why did you pick him?
-Probably I liked him

because you never tease anyone
if you don't like him.

[Sara] What, were you
like holding hands?

It... it was difficult things
to do in Tehran.

You would... you would never get
to hold hands.

[Nahid] He showed
interest in me,

and I said,
"Don't even think about it.

I'm Jewish. You're Muslim."

But eventually,
I saw love in him

and I felt love for him too.

We both came from Iran,

and we were both very passionate
about our art.

And that was not easy.

That was not easy at all.

[water drips]

[paint swishing]

[cart rattling]

[vibrant music playing]

[rapid vocalizations]

[vocalizations stop,
music calms]

[Nicky] What do you
want me to tell you?

[girl] What's it about? What's
happening in this picture?

Yeah, like, this person,
he looks...

I'm not gonna touch
the painting.

-[Nicky] You can touch.
-But, um...

[Nicky] This is my...
Yeah, go ahead.

What do you see?

I see like, um,
some kind of donkey tie--

with a fish tied up on it,

and they're getting ready
for an adventure,

or they're having sex.

Tied up.

Having sex? [laughs] Okay.

This one...

It's about power.

The red symbolize

the blood that comes
after this situation.

The man is a politician.
Actually...

[Mahmoud in Farsi]

[Sara]

[Mahmoud]

[Sara]

[Mahmoud]

[Sara]

[Mahmoud]

[Sara]

[Mahmoud]

[Sara]

[in English] The idea would be
that she would maybe pose

to make a film
about something else.

It's really a question for her.

Is she willing to do
such a thing?

-[mellow music playing]
-[video call ringing]

[in Farsi]

[laughter]

[Sara]

[filmmaker, distorted]

["The House of the Rising Sun"
by The Animals playing]

[Nahid] I never thought

that my parents would agree
to marry a Muslim.

I always knew
that it's not gonna happen,

but I thought maybe
if I get out of Tehran,

maybe things change between us.

I can go my way
and he can go his way.

I applied
for New York University.

I was accepted,

and I came to New York in 1968.

♪ There is a house
in New Orleans ♪

♪ They call the Rising Sun ♪

♪ And it's been the ruin ♪

[Nahid] Nickzad joined me

in July 1969.

[Sara]
Were you happy that he came?

[Nahid]
Of course I was happy.

At the same time,
I was very, very, very worried.

How can I say anything
to my parents?

["The House of the Rising Sun"
continues]

[Nicky] In New York,
I got involved

with the Vietnam
and anti-war movement...

♪ Sewed my new blue jeans ♪

[Nicky] ...Palestinian rights,

and Black Panthers.

Most of all, I was involved

with the Iranian
Student Association

to expose the crimes
of the Shah.

♪ Oh, mother ♪

♪ Tell your children ♪

♪ Not to do what I have done ♪

♪ Spend your lives
in sin and misery ♪

♪♪ In the House
of the Rising Sun ♪

[song ending]

[Nahid]
During that time, we lived

in a railroad apartment
in Williamsburg.

He kept telling me

that we should not do this,
we should not do that,

because we are going to Iran.

"Okay, let's get a telephone
to call someone."

"No, no telephone.

We are not gonna get
any telephone

because we are going to Iran."

He was determined
to go back to Iran,

and I was not.

[gentle music playing]

[cars honking]

Nickzad went to Iran

to have his own work exhibited.

We decided that
I should do that too,

and he took maybe ten or twelve
of my etchings to Iran.

I made etchings
about Iranian workers,

peasants,

factory workers,

rug weavers, basket weavers.

And then I combined
my knowledge

from American artists
like Andy Warhol

and Iranian figurative.

That first show in Tehran

was completely sold out.

So we got very excited
about that,

and the next year,

I sent another group
of etchings,

and that was, also,
was sold out.

But that was it.

[Nicky] In Iran,
I was interrogated

by the SAVAK

because of my political
activism in New York.

[Shah] We are now
sophisticated enough

to use the same methods
that you people are using

for interrogating
the people that you have to.

[Karim] SAVAK
was the Shah's secret police.

Trained by the CIA,

SAVAK employed torture.

The more he ruled,

the more he became reliant
on the SAVAK.

-[shouting]
-[keys jingling]

[door clanging]

[Nicky]
In each interrogation,

there were two chairs.

One where I was sitting

and one beside me, empty.

Every time I paint,

there is a chair.

Uh, SAVAK send me

to go to a secret house
in Tehran.

And two people would come,
and they would ask the question

and I had to write the answer.

We never talk.

Sometimes, one of them
would leave the room,

and this one would say,
"Do what he asks."

[Sara] And they also asked
about the people

at the Iranian
Student Association?

Yeah, they brought in
the picture of most of them,

with like 10, 15 people
that were known.

There was no reason
to hide their names,

so I would say,
this and this, I know.

Then I don't know
the rest of them.

[cell keys jingling]

After three months
interrogation,

they said,
"What do you want to do?"

I said, "I'd like
to be a teacher."

They said, "No."

And I said,
"Can I work in TV?"

They said, "No."

"Can I work
in publishing house?"

They said, "No."

"So you're going back
to New York?"

I said, "Yes."

They said, "Go to the sessions

that you're usually going to

and report to us."

I said, "I'm not gonna do that."

[grim music playing]

[Sara] You had
to sign something?

[Nicky] Actually, I did.

"I accept
the independent leadership

and progression of the Shah."

[camera shutter clicking]

So, finally, I decided
to go back to New York.

We protested all the time

against the brutality
of the SAVAK.

We wanted to have
freedom of speech,

freedom of participation
in the government.

[Sara] Did the Iranian
student organization

change him as a person?

[Nahid] They change him.

He was not already like that.

[crowd shouting]

Little by little, this group

is going toward communism,

especially Chinese communism.

They are having
these little red books

written by Mao Zedong,

and they are giving it away
to everyone.

This was not my cup of tea,

but I went along with it
a little bit.

I did it for our marriage sakes.

[light music playing]

[children chattering]

I told my mother

that Nickzad is my boyfriend

and we might get married.

She was extremely upset.

[Nicky] Nahid's parents

threaten her.

If she gets married with me,

she would be out of the family.

They would never talk to her.

We did it anyway.

[projector clicking]

[Sara laughs]

This... this is...

[Sara] You said that,
afterwards,

you went to a protest.

[Nicky] Yes. I went back
to the Iran House...

[Sara] So didn't you think,
like, "It's our wedding day,

maybe we should make it
special"?

-This kind of normal life...
-These are bourgeois things

that you're not supposed to do.

[tranquil music playing]

[Sara] Did you both look down
on this kind of life

or just you?

Just me. That's the...
That's the difference.

If you're revolutionary,
you should be revolutionary.

Everything should be tough
and rough and ready for a fight.

[foreboding music playing]

[woman singing in Farsi]

[camera shutter clicks]

You want to do really something

that disturbs people,
confuse people,

make them uncomfortable.

[Shiva] If you look
at a Nicky Nodjoumi painting,

he's speaking about what's
happening in the world today.

He reads the newspaper,

and he starts drawing
on the goddamn newspaper.

Like, he can't even process
the news

without making art about it.

That's how he sees,

that's how
he understands the world,

is making art.

He has environmental concerns,

but he also has concerns
about constructed borders

and who gets to live
within these borders

and who gets kept out.

He has concerns about war.

He has concerns
about revolutions.

And these are not just
political concerns.

They're also
his personal experience.

[singing continues]

[Linda] There are some things
that are very unsettling

in his art.

There's the sense of paranoia.

Sometimes, something
horrible happening.

At other times,
they're not explained.

If there's a narrative
going on, it's up to the viewer

to fill in what it is
that you're seeing.

[Shirin]
Nicky has this capability

of being a fighter

because that's what
he had to do all his life.

[Clare]
I'd say he's kaleidoscopic

in the sense that he has
these very different references

that all come together

without ever gelling
into something

that seems resolved.

There's always a sense
of tension.

Something beyond articulation

related to power.

[mellow music playing]

♪ Can't you see ♪

♪ I am here ♪

♪ Trying to get
through the lonely times ♪

[Nicky] I was born
in Kermanshah,

close to Iraqi border.

My father was an army man.

[Firooz] Father was hard on us.

I don't like to call him,
at this time, dictator,

but he was.

He was...
He-he loved discipline.

[Nicky] I was the oldest
of the boys.

So anything happens,
I was responsible.

So I would get the punishment.

♪ Always fear ♪

♪ And disappear ♪

[Sara] I remember
you always had nightmares.

[Nicky] Yes.

[Nicky]

[laughs]

[Sara] Wow. [laughs]

Thief!

[Nicky] I am happy

with the darkness
that is in me.

I might show it in my painting,
the harshness,

but in real life,

I try to be much nicer

as much as I can.

-What is this?
-This is...

The best move?
There is no best move.

Our downward dogs.

[indistinct lyrics]

-Please.
-Yes!

♪ Can't you help me out... ♪

So like this?

[Nicky] Okay, [indistinct].

♪ My biggest fear ♪

♪ But sometimes,
nightmares happen ♪

[music fades]

I got a name for him.

Okay, what name?

The guy who has been there
for 40 years.

-Uh-huh.
-And he knows about the show.

[in Farsi]

[filmmaker]

[Sara]

[tense music playing]

[Sara in English]
When Nickzad was in

the Iranian Student
Association,

did the group ever talk
about a revolution?

[Nahid] They were mentioning

the head of the religion
in Paris

by the name of Khomeini.

[reporter] The voice
that may well decide

the future of the country

comes not from Tehran
but from Paris.

Ayatollah Khomeini,

a man the Western governments

may shortly have to learn
to deal with.

But Khomeini says
he does not want power.

He simply wants the Shah to go.

[Nahid] This was during the time

that, every day in Iran,

people were gathering.

Thousands and thousands
and thousands.

Men putting their children
over their shoulder

and teaching them to say,
"Marg bar Shah, Marg bar Shah."

"Death to Shah."

[crowd chanting]

[reporter] The world had never
before seen anything like this.

The ruler
of an oil-rich country

and strategic ally of the West

on the brink of being toppled
by a revolution.

Iranian streets were seized
by massive protests.

[crowd chanting]

[crowd cheering]

During that time, Nickzad
couldn't take it anymore.

He said, "I have to be there."

He was completely flared up

with this uprising,

and he just didn't want
to miss it.

So Nickzad decided
to go back to Iran

and help the leftists.

And he told me,
"Go on your way

because I don't know
what's gonna happen to me,

and this is going to be
the end of our marriage."

At that time,

you were like four,
five years old.

You were feeling the tension,

and I thought maybe
if I take you from New York

to a warmer place,
maybe you'll feel better.

So we went to Florida
and he went to Iran.

[intense music playing]

[intense, dramatic
vocalizations]

-[music calming]
-[crowd clamoring]

[Nicky] By the time
I got to Tehran,

it was already
huge demonstration,

and right away
I joined the crowd.

-[crowd shouting]
-[intense music playing]

It was tremendous.

So emotional.

I was at every protest.

I was everywhere.

[Sara] At that time,

Nahid and I would watch
the news at night,

and I remember
there was one time

there was some man on a car

screaming into the protest,

and I only--
you could see only his back,

and I was like, "That's Nickzad!
That's Nickzad!"

I looked for you in the news.

[gunfire]

[explosion]

[gunfire]

Was there ever a time
where you were scared?

[Nicky] There was bullets
all the time

there was a demonstration.

[shouting]

-[gunshots]
-[telephone ringing]

[Sara] But you never thought,
"Maybe I should just stay home"?

[Nicky] No.

This was the important thing

that we were looking for.

So why should I stay home?

[Sara] How often
would you talk to Nahid?

Every... couple of months.

It was difficult
to really make a phone call.

-[Sara] Every couple of months?
-Yeah.

[Sara] It thought it would...
like once a week.

Did you miss me?

No.

[Sara] Apparently not,

if you only called
once every two months.

[dramatic music playing]

[Nicky] The revolution
brought a lot of people

from different persuasion

under one umbrella.

Intellectuals,
religious people,

liberals, Marxists,
and students.

[crowd chanting]

[chanting continues]

[reporter] The crowd shouted,
"Death to the Shah."

Among the despised symbols
of their monarch,

the marchers raised pictures
of the Shah's antagonist,

the bearded, fierce-eyed
holy man, Ayatollah Khomeini.

[reporter 2]
A tearful Shah of Iran

left his country today
on a vacation

from which he may never return.

[crowd chanting]

[reporter 1]
The Shah's departure

made Ayatollah Khomeini,
in effect,

the new ruler of Iran.

[dramatic music playing]

[indistinct shouting]

[Nicky]

Khomeini had this white beard

which was to make him
much more...

-[in Farsi]
-[Sara in English] Godlike.

[Nicky] The portrait that I did,

I made it totally black.

[projector clicking]

He represented the idea of Islam

the way he wanted everybody
to follow.

[projector clicking]

Oh.

This is hypocrisy

of Islamic Republic of Iran.

[crowd chanting]

[Sara] What happened
to the people

who were not
religious protestors?

[Nicky]

[tense music playing]

It was heartbreaking.

[gunfire]

After revolution,

we-we got the taste

of the harsh,
harsh dictatorship.

We had the Shah's dictatorship,
and that was bad,

but it was nothing compared
to the Islamic dictatorship.

[reporter] The American embassy
in Tehran

is in the hands
of Muslim students tonight.

They stormed the embassy

and took dozens
of American hostages.

The students want
the deposed Shah

returned to Iran for trial.

[crowd chanting]

[Nahid] Nickzad understood
that these fanatic people,

they are not gonna give up.

And actually, he was arrested.

[Sara] You said it was
one of the first

anti-revolution
demonstrations.

[Nicky] I was
in a demonstration,

but I escaped
through the alleys,

but the alley was blocked.

There was a door behind me,

but the door was closed.

So they got me with the bayonet

just in front of my chest.

So they start beating me.

They took me to glass prison.

Actually, we were convicted
of 100 lashes, all of us.

Like 170 people

in a room like this.

We couldn't even sleep,
just stand up

until the next morning.

Then they took us
to the courtyard.

[Sara] Did you know him already?

[Nicky] Yeah, of course.

Khomeini picked him up

as the Chief Justice
of the revolution at that time.

So he would go to west of Iran

to the Kurdish area
in the morning,

execute like 20, 25 people.

[gunfire]

The next morning,
go to the center of Iran,

hang other people.

That's why he was famous
for being "Hanging Judge."

[reporter] Khalkhali was
so proud of his achievements

that he had this film made
of himself in action.

The prisoners seen here

have already been condemned
to death.

Their hair and mustaches
are partly shaven

to give them a humiliating
and grotesque appearance.

[speaking Farsi]

[Nicky in English] I thought
that I won't be alive

after 100 lashes,

but when he left,
they were tired,

they couldn't beat up
all these 170 people,

so at the end, they said,
"Sign a paper

that you're not going to
participate in any demonstration

against the Islamic Republic.

And if you do,
execution right away, anyplace."

It's a kind of similar letter

that I signed
with the previous regime.

So they cut my hair
from this way and this way,

and they let...
they let me go to the streets.

[Sara] It was like a way
to humiliate you.

[Nicky] Exactly.

And after that,
did you join any other protests?

Yeah, of course.

Oh, so you did?
After... after this,

-you still went out?
-Yeah, of course.

That was not the revolution
that we wanted.

The justice that we fought for

is not happening here.

This was much worse
than what we had.

[Sara] When was
the first time you heard

that the Museum
of Contemporary Art

wanted to show his work?

He called me,

and he said,

uh, "This is gonna happen."

And none of his work
was pro-revolution.

It was all anti-revolution.

[Nicky in Farsi]

[in English] Remember,
we fought for democracy.

My position at that time was

we had the right to criticize

the behavior of the government.

I didn't have a, um,
gun in my hand.

[tense music playing]

[Sara] You seem to be

the only person that we know

that was at the exhibition
in 1980

at the Tehran Museum
of Contemporary Art.

That's right.

[Sara] Can you tell us
a little bit about that?

I went to the museum
and I saw Nicky's work.

A lot of works. You know,
I remember, it was huge.

There were two or three rooms,

and they were covered
with paintings.

It was the image of Khomeini.

Khomeini was usually portrayed
as a saint,

and in these paintings,
he was a man,

and an angry man.

Everything else
was blood and fury.

[Nicky] The opening was Tuesday.

So I went out, got the paper,

and I read it,
and I read it, and I read it,

and I didn't believe
this is happening.

It was saying

how, from the garbages
of United States,

I came back to Iran

and I stabbed the revolution
from the back.

They also printed

one of the images
of the painting.

On the right side
of the painting,

there are two groups fighting,

the left and the right.

Then there's a graveyard

of a Kurdish guy

that has been executed,

and Khomeini

and Hanging Judge Khalkhali

is coming towards the viewer.

Any blood that is coming down

is coming from the path
of Khomeini and Khalkhali.

So it was really
a harsh criticism.

[speaking Farsi]

[Nicky in English]
Friday prayer,

bunch of people attacked
the museum to get the painting.

[in Farsi]

[crowd chanting]

[in English] Saturday, a friend
of mine called me and said,

"Get out of the country
as fast as you can."

[Sara] What would happen
if he was arrested at that time?

[Nahid] They would have
killed him.

[air raid siren blaring]

-[artillery whistling]
-[bomb exploding]

[Nicky] I was out
from the airport nine o'clock.

Twelve o'clock, Saddam Hussein
attacked same airport.

[reporter] In one of the first
acts of war on September 22nd,

Iraqi planes attacked
Mehrabad Airport

outside Tehran,

an apparent effort to knock out
Iran's air force on the ground.

The crisis brought with it
a new surge of patriotism.

[Nicky] The war established
the Islamic Republic

because they were able
to unite everybody

and kill whoever
was against the regime.

[Nahid] He was extremely lucky

to have got out of Tehran

exactly at the right moment.

He directly came to Miami.

[waves lapping]

[gulls calling]

[Nicky] When I finally got
to America,

it was just wasting time,
nothing.

I couldn't work. I couldn't...

I couldn't do anything.

And I couldn't go back either.

So it was a rough time.

[Nahid] He came to his senses

that, "My family is worth it,

and I need to go to my family."

Maybe. I don't know.

[Sara] But then when he got to
his family, he couldn't get rid

-of all the anger.
-No, he couldn't.

He always had the anger.

He always was unsatisfied.

He had a revolution in himself.

[soft music playing]

-Oh, wow.
-Wow.

[Nicky] I came back from Tehran.

-Yeah.
-So I started this series.

I was working every day
in Miami.

[Helena] Wow.

-Is that Sara?
-That's Sara.

I want to hear
what brought all of this

out of you in one year.

I was so angry.

I was so disappointed

that there was nothing else
I can do.

Just do the painting.

[Helena] Sara, what do you
remember from Miami?

[Sara] So much of my memory

comes from his paintings,
actually.

It was a tough time.

He hated Miami.

He hated being there.
He hated the whole vibe.

In Iran, hundred...
hundreds of people

I would meet every day.

Planning,
going to the demonstration,

organizing, making posters.

Then you come to Miami,
it's dead.

It was such... such a shock.

I... I was losing my mind.

[soft music playing]

[Sara] My mother
really liked it.

[birds chirping]

But he convinced her
to go back to New York.

[dramatic piano music playing]

♪ Sometimes happiness is sad ♪

♪ When I looked
into your eyes ♪

♪ I know you never
meant it bad ♪

What is it?

♪ It was all just fun ♪

♪ You know this
can't go on forever ♪

♪ Not like this ♪

♪ I'm too tired,
I'm too sober ♪

♪ For this shit ♪

♪ I don't want you to be
the one, oh yeah... ♪

You have to do
an Instagram post.

-[Nicky] We do it.
-Every two weeks,

post what you're working on.

-[Nicky laughs]
-Like this,

this painting is gonna...

People are gonna be
interested in that.

I can't put that on...

[Sara] Why can't you put
that on Instagram?

[Nika] Weird,
prostituting woman.

-[Nicky] Okay.
-And I think

it's because the men have been
ruling the women in Iran

to wear chadors,

and now the woman
is taking over this man.

She's wearing like
all this stuff to scare him,

and then he's...
she's gonna whip him.

Beautiful. That was, uh,

that's the idea. [chuckles]

[filmmaker in Farsi]

[Nicky]

[gate creaking]

[filmmaker]

[dramatic electronic music
playing]

[Sara]

[Mahmoud]

[ominous music playing]

[music fades]

[Sara in English]
Did you have any, um,

regret in advance of the show?

Did you think maybe
it's not a good idea?

I did... I told
the head of that museum

that, "Listen, I'm not looking
for any problem."

[Sara] I looked up
the museum director.

In this 1979
New York Times article,

Masud Shafie Monfared
is mentioned

as the head of the museum.

[Nicky] Right.

I'd love to find that guy

and talk to him about,
like, what he saw,

why he thought
it was a good idea

to, um, curate his work.

[filmmaker in Farsi]

[Sara in English]
Masud D. Monfared.

I have a phone number.

-[phone ringing]
-[Masud] Hello?

Is this Mr. Monfared?

-[Masud] Yes, speaking. Yes.
-Salam.

So my question for you is,

were you the former curator

at the Tehran Museum
of Contemporary Art?

[Masud] Yes, yes, I was.

-You--
-I was the director, yes.

You're kidding me.

-No.
-No. [laughs]

This is crazy
because I've been, um,

kind of searching for you.

How are you?

-What's up?
-What's up?

[Sara] He lives in Sacramento.

He still goes back to Iran.

[Nicky]

What does he know,

anything about this interview?

[Sara] Very little.

I haven't said anything
about what happened.

I've heard the story
so many times in my life,

and there's always
so many different versions.

-Uh-huh.
-[Sara in Farsi]

[in English]
And this is an effort

to pull those pieces together

to see what happened.

Yeah, I... I don't recall.

You know, I have to think,
go to back memories.

And you don't remember
the pieces,

what may have happened
to the pieces?

I don't know.
I don't remember anything. Yeah.

Do you remember how you first
came across Nickzad's artwork?

[Masud] He was a young man,
and he was, uh...

a little shy person,

and, you know, he asked me,

"Can I participate also?"

I said, "Yeah, you can."

[Till] If he tried
to now get the work back,

would he have a chance
to get it back?

I believe so.
I believe... If it's his.

I would just basically go
to Iran to challenge them.

"Well, you know, I did this at
a time I was thinking like this.

I think differently now,"
or whatever, you know?

[Till] But part
of the problem is

he doesn't necessarily think
differently.

[knocking]

Salam!

[speaking Farsi]

[Nicky in English]
It's been like 42 years.

Yes.

I have an Islamic Republican
newspaper.

[Masud] Really?

Oh, yeah, yeah.

[Nicky] This is the painting
that was in the show,

because after this article,

you took that painting
out of the museum.

I did?

-You told me.
-Okay, okay.

-The story is...
-[laughing]

-It's your story.
-Okay, okay.

[Nicky] Because after
Friday prayer,

the mob attacked museum.

So you said to me,

uh, "Why don't you write
an answer to this article?"

-Mm-hmm.
-I said I would do it,

and I gave it to you.

-Mm-hmm.
-You said,

"No. We don't do it because

this would be an excuse for them

to attack the museum."

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

[Nicky] Meantime,
another friend of mine called me

and said,
"Get out of the country

as soon as you can."

-Really?
-Really.

So you changed your life
because of this article?

-Because of this article.
-Wow. [laughs]

So my question
for 42 years was,

do you remember what happened
to this painting?

Uh, I don't know.
I have no idea.

I don't recall,

uh, any of these, actually.

This is my first time.

There were so many topics
and subjects

was going on at the same time.

I-I don't remember your show.

So what's wrong
with this painting anyway?

-[laughs]
-[Nicky] You read the...

Read the article
and not the painting, yeah.

Well, it was good to see you
after 43 years.

[gulls calling]

[melancholic music playing]

When he says
he doesn't remember,

-do you believe that?
-I don't... I don't believe.

It's...

It's out of, uh...

Beyond me to believe that

because it's impossible.

And the other thing
that he said,

I asked him to have a show.

Right.

[Nicky] Never, ever.

Never, ever I asked him.

Let's just say, tomorrow,

somebody from
the Islamic Republic of Iran

watched the film,

he's gotta come across
looking good.

[Nicky] I think...

-his concern...
-He's gotta...

His concern is that.

[indistinct shouting]

[solemn music playing]

[woman in Farsi]

[reporter] After eight years
of relative moderation

under Hassan Rouhani,

his successor is expected to
take a sharp conservative turn.

[reporter 2]
Two internationally acclaimed

Iranian film directors

have been detained
by authorities

for criticizing the government

over a violent crackdown.

[Nicky in Farsi]

[Nicky in English]

[in Farsi]

[Sara]

[Nicky]

[in English]
They might send messages.

Don't respond.

[Nicky coughs] Okay.

[in Farsi]

[filmmaker]

[Nicky in English] Well,
I don't blame. It's dangerous.

I said it to you
a long time ago.

I don't think anybody
would do it.

[in Farsi]

[in English] Bahmanpour
has said, "Stay back.

It's not a good time.

Stay for like... stay away
for three, four months.

Let's see what's happened
to this new regime."

So Bahmanpour is still there?

[Nicky] He's still there,
but it's...

They are...
they are waiting to see

what the new regime
is going to be.

They don't know
whether it's going

to really cut down
everything.

[solemn music playing]

[Sara] You always say,

"If I had a normal life,

things would be different."

What would a normal life
have looked like for you?

I would stay in Iran.

I would have been a teacher,

continue as an artist,

get a wife, couple of childrens.

That's it.

And you think you would've been
content with that kind of life?

What do you mean?

I guess I'm trying
to figure out,

if you were to do it
all over again,

would you do it
exactly the same way?

No.

[Sara] That museum exhibition

kind of changed the trajectory
of our lives.

If the revolution
hadn't happened...

[Nahid] Yes.
We could have been...

uh, very happy family.

But...

Nickzad was always
a revolutionary inside,

and he couldn't...

Nothing in this world
could have make him calm.

[melancholic music playing]

After we came back to New York,

we had absolutely no money.

My parents had moved
to the United States.

We stayed in my parents' house.

My father had a clothing store,

so I went to work there.

We rented a small apartment.

The bedroom was dedicated

as a studio for both of us.

[Sara] Though I had a room.

[Nahid] It wasn't a room.
It was some kind of

small dining area.

You slept there and we slept
in the living room. Yes.

-I remember that apartment.
-[Nahid] Yeah.

When Nickzad was involved
with his painting,

he was in heaven.

But when he was not,

he was not a calm person.

[Sara] Why were you so angry?

[Nicky] I didn't want
to be here.

I couldn't do the job
that I want to do here

at the beginning.

It was a lot of, um, you know,

a lot of rejection.

[Nahid] Iranian artists
were doomed

after the revolution.

After capturing the hostages,

nobody respected us anymore.

He has this much
of rejection letters

from galleries.

Nobody would buy our art.

So one of us
should have make money.

And when we created
the textile design studio,

he also worked at that studio,

but he was always complaining

that, "You're taking my time
from my painting

and doing nonsense."

I said, "This nonsense,
at least,

it's providing us."

But he didn't want to do that.

[Till] Sara often asked him,

"Why is it that everybody
speaks so highly of Nicky,

and Nicky is this
and Nicky is that,

and such a kind man,"

but that wasn't necessarily
her experience?

Uh-huh. Okay.

[Sara] Right,
like every time I... "Nicky!"

Sara Jan,

that hurts me

because, actually,
nobody knows him.

I don't want to put him down.

-You're not putting him down.
-Okay.

Everybody is complicated.

People are nuanced,

and it's a little bit
of an underst--

What we're trying to do is
understand, like, what happened.

[somber music playing]

[sniffling softly]

This is you.

When was this taken?

[Nicky] How old are you, 11, 10?

[Sara] Yeah.

One of the one times
we went camping

-together.
-[Nicky] Yes.

This is you.

[Sara] It's us.

[Nicky] Okay, it's us.

[Sara] So when you see,
like, pictures of Nahid,

do you feel like...

sadness that it didn't work
between you guys?

Or...

what do you...
like, what do you feel?

Of course that's...
that's the feeling.

This is the picture, um, that...

No, this is not the one.

-Huh? 'Cause...
-I said...

I said, "Of course."

[Sara] Okay.

-Nahid.
-I'm really trying to get

something out of you,

but you really...
you hold it together

when it comes to the marriage.

What do you want me to tell?

I don't know, like, I... I...

I'm trying to figure out
your feelings.

[laughing]

[Nicky] Twenty years after,

you can't have the same feeling
that you had before.

What... what do you mean?

[Nicky] If... if, for example,

you were in love
at the beginning, when you...

[melancholic music playing]

[sniffles]

[softly] Okay.

I still have this,
the teddy bear.

That's... that is
my favorite teddy bear.

That's you.
Show it to... to Till.

-Okay.
-Okay. [laughs]

[sniffles]

[in Farsi]

-Is this enough for you?
-Yeah, that's... [laughs]

[Sara sniffles]

[Sara in Farsi]

[in English]
He had to do what he had to do

to get where he is today.

I don't blame him,
I don't blame my mother.

They were learning.

They were adjusting to life,

to disappointments.

[in Farsi]

[in English] Right?

[in Farsi]

[in English] Right?

[in Farsi]

[in English] The ten steps
that he was able to take,

she wasn't able to take it

because she was trying
to figure things out.

She was trying
to figure out life.

[Nahid in Farsi]

[Sara in English]
What advice would you give

to her younger self?

No marriage. [laughs]

Don't get married.

So her parents were right?

I think they were right.

I think they were right.

If it wasn't for me,

she would probably had
a better life.

I changed a lot of life
around myself,

and not all of them
for better.

I made a lot of people unhappy.

Then, later on,
I realized what I had done.

[Sara] And then you had guilt
about it.

A lot of guilt.

[in Farsi]

[Sara in English] Okay.

[Nicky] The man in the jacket
is my father.

He died about 20 years ago.

My mother's name is Zeshad.

Great woman.

She died...

15 years ago. I wasn't there.

I talked to her
the night before she died,

and I told her I would come,

and she said, "Don't come.

We're not looking for trouble."

[soft, moody music playing]

This is Mezhad,
my older sister.

With her husband driving
from north to Tehran,

there was an accident and...

I'm sorry.

She's gone.

This is Behrus.

He was part of revolution.

They threw him out,

and he became addict...

and died a year ago
in nursing home.

[inhales deeply]

This is Faroh.

[inhales deeply]

He was addict

to heroin

and committed suicide.

This is Saheed.

Saheed was in United States.

He become an architect.

He was living in the street
for 25 years.

He died

couple of years ago,
two years ago.

And this box...

his ashes.

This is Firooz.

He's living in Long Island,

and he teaches
at the community college.

And that's me.

[video call ringing]

[Sara in Farsi]

Ooh.

Good.

[rapid vocalizations]

[Sara in English] Hey!

[Nicky] Hey, Sara Jan.

[Sara] So what's up?

[Nicky] Apparently they talk

right away yesterday.

Who talked?

[in Farsi]

[in English] Okay.

[in Farsi]

[in English]
Okay, that's fantastic.

And how are you, my love?

How are you?

[in Farsi]

-[in English] We just...
-[indistinct]

[laughing]

-Hey, [indistinct].
-Hi.

I heard about the paintings.

Yes. I never thought
that we can make it that fast.

You ready?

[trills lips]
I wish I could go!

[laughs]

[music ending]

[Mahmoud in Farsi]

[tense music playing]

[Sara in English] Good morning,
Nickzad Jan.

Oh, shit.

-[Nicky in Farsi]
-[English] Three notifications.

You have a bunch
of notifications.

[indistinct chatter]

[in Farsi]

[Sara] Mahmoud...

[Nicky]

-[cell phone ringing]
-[Sara]

[Nicky]

[Nicky]

[Mahmoud]

[in English] Okay, photos,
photos, photos, photos.

-Self-portrait.
-[Nicky] Ooh.

[gentle music playing]

Oh, he got a lot of pictures.

[Nicky] I don't remember
any of these.

Maybe one or two.

A lot of images
of the clerics...

-That are not in these.
-...they're... they're not here.

They took out the images
with the clerics.

I think so.

This is one, for example.

[Sara] Yeah, I mean,
this is like with the people.

Right, but I... I had
other... other ones

that was more critical.

So, I don't see them in here.

[camera shutter clicks]

[indistinct chatter]

[music fades]

[dramatic music playing]

[chanting]

[reporter] Protests across Iran
have been going on now

for more than a month,

women taking off
their headscarves

and cutting their hair
in a sign of protest.

[shouting]

[Nicky]

[in Farsi]

[chanting]

[in English] They are facing
light, they are facing freedom,

for... for freedom in Iran.

[Luca] It's very nice.

-[Nahid laughs]
-You made this?

-Yes.
-I didn't know that.

[mellow acoustic guitar music
playing]

Hey, Khamenei,

we have a song
for you and your mullahs.

♪ You've kept this country
a prison for 40 years ♪

♪ We're sick and tired
of this terror and the cost ♪

♪ Too many women and children
all being killed ♪

♪ Do you really think
you'll get away with this? ♪

[strumming long chords]

[Nicky] I made a poster
last night.

If the museum sees that poster,

they never give us back
the work.

[Sara] So why do you put
the poster out?

I just want to see
their reaction.

But you're not gonna see
their reaction.

You're just not gonna get
your work back.

At least I said
what I want to say.

♪ Sisters in Iran,
we stand with all of you ♪

♪ 'Cause women like freedom,
it's true ♪

♪ Let us stand together
and spell it out ♪

♪ A-B-C-D-E fuck you ♪

[crowd shouting, chanting]

[chanting fades]

[tranquil music playing]

-[Nicky] Yeah, it is...
-[Sara] It's beautiful.

It's kind of amazing that this
is from an iPhone photo.

Okay.

[crowd chattering]

[tranquil music continues]

[inaudible dialogue]

[door opens]

Hey! [laughing]

[speaking Farsi]

[Nahid in English] Beautiful.

[inaudible dialogue]

-Cheers.
-Really nice space.

Cheers.

[music fades]

[footsteps approaching]

[gentle music playing]

[music intensifies
with dramatic vocalizations]

[music and vocalizations fade]