Sadegh Ghotbzadeh - Son of the Revolution - Part 1

Part one: Full Time Revolutionary

For nearly 40 years, Sadegh Ghotbzadeh was a mysterious figure in the Iranian revolution. He was a close aide and supporter of Ayatollah Khomeini during his exile, and after the revolution's victory, Ghotbzadeh became the first head of Iranian national radio and television. Later, during the Hostage crisis, he became the foreign minister. However, in 1982, he was executed for plotting a coup against the Islamic Republic that he had helped to create.

This biographical documentary trilogy tells Ghotbzadeh's story through interviews with his close friends and acquaintances. The first episode, "Full-Time Revolutionary," explores his activities in exile before his return to Iran in 1979 with Ayatollah Khomeini. The second episode, "Maverick," focuses on his time in the new revolutionary government. Finally, the third episode, "Fallen Man," tells the story of his isolation, defiance, and path to the death penalty.

In "Full-Time Revolutionary," the episode about Ghotbzadeh's pre-revolutionary life, viewers hear from a diverse group of individuals who knew him personally. These include Carol Jerome, a Canadian journalist; Ahmad Salamtian, an Iranian activist; Abdul Karim Lahidji, a lawyer; Lean Waage Beck, his sister-in-law; Abolhasan Bani Sadr, a friend and activist at the time; Jonottan Randal, a foreign correspondent for the Washington Post; Francois Cheron and Christian Bourguet, French lawyers; Lucien Georges, a Le Monde correspondent in Lebanon; and Éva Darlan, a French actress. They share their personal accounts and recollections of Ghotbzadeh's life in America and Europe during different stages of his journey, leading up to his return to Iran and his flight with Ayatollah Khomeini on the Air France plane.

In "Maverick," the second episode of the documentary trilogy, the focus is on Ghotbzadeh's time in the new revolutionary government after the victory. The episode features insights from a diverse group of individuals, including Carol Jerome, a journalist and his girlfriend, Alireza Nourizadeh, an Iranian journalist; Francois Cheron and Christian Bourguet, French lawyers; Ahmed Salamatian, an Iranian activist; Abdul Karim Lahidji, a lawyer; Lean Waage Beck, his sister-in-law; Abolhassan Bani Sadr, first Iranian president, Jonottan Randall, journalist from the Washington Post; Stefani Van Rygersberg, american translator for the white house; and Sadegh Tabatabai, a close friend. They share their personal accounts and recollections of Ghotbzadeh's time as the director of Iran's national radio and television and his tenure as the Minister of Foreign Affairs. The episode covers his efforts to extradite the Shah of Iran and release the American hostages, which ultimately failed and led to him becoming increasingly sidelined.

In "Fallen Man", Carol Jerome, a Canadian journalist, Christian Bourguet, a French lawyer, Jonottan Randall, a journalist from the Washington Post, Sadegh Tabatabai, a close friend and family member of the Iranian leader Khomeini, and Mr. A, an aide to Ghotbzadeh, talk about their memories from the period of isolation until the execution of Ghotbzadeh.

Writer, Producer, Director: Farshad Bayan
Researcher & Producer: Mahmoud Azimaee
Film Edit: Babak Salek
Production Manager: Helga Farhadian
Executive Producer: Jane Taylor
Editor: Rozita Lotfi
A BBC Persian Production
2020