Coup 53

Coup 53 presents the story of the 1953 Anglo-American coup in Iran that overthrew the democratically elected Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh and reinstalled the Shah. While making this stirring documentary, Iranian director Taghi Amirani and renowned editor Walter Murch (Apocalypse Now, The Conversation, The English Patient) discover extraordinary, never before seen archival material hidden for decades. The 16mm footage and documents not only allowed the filmmakers to tell the story of the overthrow of the Iranian government in unprecedented detail, but also to expose explosive revelations and dark secrets buried for 67 years. What began as an historical documentary about four fateful days in August 1953 turns into a live investigation, taking the filmmakers into uncharted cinematic waters. The roots of Iran’s volatile relationship with the United States and Great Britain have never been so forensically and dramatically revealed.