Taraneh: Iran's defiant actress
The Documentary Podcast
BBC
4.3 • 2.7K Ratings
🗓️ 10 January 2026
⏱️ 27 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
A recent BBC Persian documentary, Taraneh, has recieved millions of views online. It features an Iranian actress who is considered an icon in the country and has been starring in films for nearly 30 years. Her name is Taraneh Alidoosti and in 2022 she was arrested for taking a photograph of herself in her home, not wearing a hijab, and holding a sign showing support for the 'Woman, Life, Freedom' protests that are currently spreading across Iran once more. The film's director is BBC Persian's Pegah Ahangarani and she explains why the documentary had to be filmed in complete secret. BBC Monitoring's Sarbas Nazari reflects on why the film resonates so much in the contect of the protests now taking place in Iran.
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This episode of The Documentary comes to you from The Fifth Floor, the show at the heart of global storytelling, with BBC journalists from all around the world.
Presented by Faranak Amidi.
Produced by Laura Thomas and Caroline Ferguson
(Photo: Faranak Amidi. Credit: Tricia Yourkevich.)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts. |
| 0:06.0 | Welcome to the documentary from the BBC World Service. |
| 0:13.8 | You're listening The Fifth Floor. |
| 0:18.1 | The Fifth Floor, you know you're listening. |
| 0:20.0 | The Fifth Floor, Farnak, Amid, Isobat. The fifth floor is You're listening. This is the fifth floor |
| 0:23.2 | Farnak Amidi, Sobath. |
| 0:26.7 | This is the fifth floor |
| 0:28.5 | at the heart of global storytelling |
| 0:31.2 | with BBC journalists |
| 0:32.9 | from all around the world. |
| 0:35.0 | I'm your host, Faranak Amidi. |
| 0:49.8 | In November 2022, a well-known Iranian actress took a photo of herself in her living room and posted it on social media. Taranet Ali Dosti was not wearing the headscarf that Iran's Islamic government |
| 0:56.5 | requires all women to wear in public, and she was holding a sign bearing the slogan, |
| 1:03.2 | Woman Life Freedom. It has become not only a familiar rallying cry for protesters against Iran's |
| 1:10.0 | Islamic regime, but also the name of the |
| 1:12.8 | movement demanding social change. Last year, BBC Persian released a film about her, which quickly garnered |
| 1:20.3 | millions of views. Pegah O'Hangaroni is the director of the documentary and went about making |
| 1:27.0 | the film remotely and in secret. |
| 1:29.5 | I asked her why she chose Tarane as a subject of her film. |
| 1:35.4 | Okay. |
| 1:36.3 | Okay. |
| 1:37.5 | Let me, Tarane, to this reason, I'm with Taranahsha, I always done-carred. Firstly, I've been friends with Taranay for years, so I've always followed her professional journey. |
... |
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