A Call from the Hostage Takers

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Abbas A Motlagh

Mark Williams

Si Bennett

Jane Taylor

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BBC Four - A Call from the Hostage Takers

The story behind the invitation to 50 Americans to visit Iran during the hostage crisis.

Documentary that revisits the extraordinary invitation, from those who had taken US diplomats and citizens hostage in Iran in 1979, to another 50 Americans to visit the country to hear their reasons.

Forty years ago, the Iranian hostage crisis gripped the world, with details unfolding nightly on television. But, until now, one story remains untold.

Desperate to get their message out, the hostage takers invited 50 ordinary Americans to visit Iran. For the Americans, this high-risk trip held the tantalising possibility of securing the release of the hostages. What transpired was a journey quite unlike any of them had planned. 

Using archive of the visit and interviews with former Iranian hostage takers in Iran and their American visitors, we hear about their hopes and misgivings at the time and their reflections four decades on.

This film was made by BBC Persian as part of Crossing Divides, bringing people together in a fragmented world.



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