Not Without My Daughter

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For other uses, see Not Without My Daughter (disambiguation).

Movie Poster

Not Without My Daughter is a 1991 propagandistic film depicting American Betty Mahmoody's escape with her young daughter from her husband in Iran. It was filmed in USA and Israel and stars Sally Field and Alfred Molina.

1 Production
2 Plot
3 Criticism
4 Trivia
5 References
6 See also
7 External links

[edit] Production

The movie was based on a book written by Betty Mahmoody and William Hoffer. The screenplay was written by John W. Winters. It was directed by Brian Gilbert and filmed at GG Studios, Navehlan, Israel and in Atlanta, Georgia.

[edit] Plot

The film tells how Betty's Iranian husband convinced her to visit his family in Tehran, but then forced her to stay, becoming increasingly violent. He told Betty she could leave, but she could not take their daughter Mahtob with her; as a result, she remained confined in Iran for 18 months. Finally, Betty and Mahtob escaped Iran via Turkey.

The movie was released a few days before the Persian Gulf War was beginning. A few parts of Not Without My Daughter have been repeatedly shown by IRIB in Iran.

A few years later, Alexis Kouros (Dream Catcher Productions) directed a documentary called Without My Daughter in response to the Hollywood movie.

[edit] Criticism

A Finnish documentary, Without My Daughter was made by Alexis Kouros. Kouros, said that the aim of the 90-minute documentary was to "show the lies in the American film and present the real story behind" what turned into an acrimonious custody battle for Mahtab Mahmoody.^[1]

[edit] Trivia

The movie was parodied by South Park in "Terrance and Phillip in Not Without My Anus."
"Not Without My Daughter" is the name of the 21st episode of Arrested Development.
"Not Without My Daughter" is the name of an episode of The Sarah Silverman Program.