Googoosh – Made of Fire

Niloufar Taghizadeh / Germany / 2024 / 94 min

Iranian singer Googoosh is considered her country’s first and greatest pop icon. She was three years old when she started performing with her father, an acrobat and artist. Before the 1979 revolution, she was able to practice her music freely, playing for the country’s royalty and mingling with the cultural elite. Her music inspired Iranian musicians to create a new form of pop music that blended Persian poetry with blues, jazz, Latin, rock and disco. 

But when Ayatollah Khomeini imposed his religious regime, she was banned from performing and put under house arrest. 20 years later, she made a sensational comeback outside the Iranian border. And in 2022, she went on a farewell tour shortly after 22-year-old Iranian woman Mahsa Amini died in police custody. 

‘Googoosh – Made of Fire’ is the fascinating story of an icon and pioneer of Iranian pop culture. An eternally relevant story about the impossible living conditions that Iranian women endure in the rigid, religious regime. But above all, a touching story full of hope, courage and solidarity.