America 1979

Lila Yomtoob, USA, 2014, 14 min, in English and Farsi, with English subtitles

International Premiere

In November 1979, a group of young Iranian revolutionaries took 63 hostages at the American Embassy in Tehran. This event echoed daily on television sets across America for 15 months, and soon enough Iranians living in the States were singled out because of their nationality. The dream of the American melting pot was over.

America 1979 is coming of age story of a nine year old Iranian girl and her teenage brother during the hostage crisis. What followed influenced their behaviour, how they were treated and how they grew up.