Watching Nazanin, the documentary that chronicles Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s imprisonment in Iran and the fight to bring her home, is an emotional rollercoaster. The unwavering dedication of her husband, Richard, who campaigned to free her, the reunions for both with their daughter, Gabriella, and the hunger strikes that Richard and Nazanin endured are incredibly moving. But as the 75-minute film draws to a close, one emotion far surpasses all others: this film will make you furious.
Journalist turned director Darius Bazargan, best known for The Great Game: Iran versus USA, had intimate access to the family and shows them talking lovingly on the phone, Gabriella’s birthday celebrations and fruitless Zoom meetings with Dominic Raab, the then foreign secretary. This is intercut with interviews, and the well-circulated footage of her arrest and the family’s eventual tearful reunion. Zaghari-Ratcliffe narrates scenes, reading aloud letters to her daughter. Much of what she says is incredibly painful to hear. Images of her in a blissful cocoon of new motherhood are shown as she recalls the overwhelming joy of Gabriella’s birth and reflects sorrowfully: “My darling daughter. Those sweet and beautiful days didn’t last long. A trip to Iran in 2016 when you were 22 months was one of no return.”
Even though this story is a familiar one, kept in the public eye throughout her imprisonment through her husband’s dedication, the film still has the power to shock. Footage of her disbelief as she is arrested at the Iranian airport takes on the feeling of a horror film. Her mouth is agape as an unseen man explains: “I am from the prosecutor’s office and I’m here to inform you that you are banned from leaving the country. We have an order for your arrest.” Zaghari-Ratcliffe and her husband seem to be in denial at first, convinced this is a mistake that will be quickly resolved, which makes it all the more terrible knowing what lies ahead. Sweet moments on the phone in the first few weeks where Richard coos that he’s “all the better for hearing your voice” give way to chilling cruelty as we watch him take in that her sentence is “five years” – and all the more devastating knowing that it will, in fact, be just under six.
But sadness gives way to anger, as it becomes clear that Zaghari-Ratcliffe is not a prisoner but “a hostage”. She spends the first 10 days in solitary confinement wearing the same clothes in which she was arrested; her husband relays that her food was drugged, her family were threatened and she was kept in a cycle of “interrogation, isolation, interrogation, isolation”. The torture of an innocent woman is hard to digest, particularly as the film shows her as a pawn in a larger game between the UK and Iran.
More infuriating still is the glibness with which her story is reported in Iran. She is shown as the answer on television quizshows to questions such as: “Which one of these people is a British spy?”
But perhaps what provokes most rage is the actions of the British government. It is well known that when Boris Johnson was foreign secretary he falsely stated that Nazanin was “simply teaching people journalism” rather than visiting her family. Richard almost screams that this was “fucking outrageous” as he was aware how that would be used against her in Iran. But what is truly shocking is the film’s depiction of how obstructive the British government was in the attempts to free her. The blame is placed squarely at its feet, and its refusal to pay the £400m debt from a decades-old arms deal. Richard seems utterly disillusioned by the government’s stated intention to get Zaghari-Ratcliffe home, claiming: “All the government has done is deflect attention away from their failure to pay the debt.” By the midway point of the documentary, as Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s voice is heard saying, “I am losing my faith in humanity”, it’s hard not to feel the same way.
Anyone with even a cursory knowledge of the case will be aware that Zaghari-Ratcliffe did eventually make it home and that after a deal for the UK to pay what it owed to Iran she, and another British-Iranian detainee Anoosheh Ashoori, were released and reunited with their loved ones on British soil. But the documentary offers little respite in these moments. The injustice this family suffered is overwhelming, and the inaction of those who could have helped sooner is horrific and they must be held to account. As a call to arms to fight for those who are still being held hostage around the world, this film is a reminder that love is an incredible motivator, but anger may prove just as potent.
Nazanin aired on Channel 4 and is available on All 4
