WRESTLING WITH IRAN is the first-person story of freestyle wrestling fanatic and impassioned citizen diplomat Jahangir Golestan-Palast. Employing a participatory-journalistic approach, Jahangir chronicles the rocky history of U.S.-Iran relations as he deconstructs how wrestling has the potential to be a powerful metaphor for bridging the divide between these bitter rivals. The film accomplishes this multi-layered approach by deconstructing the myths, misconceptions and distrust that have separated these two nations for decades. And through the use of a mosaic structure of interviews with Iranian and American wrestlers, international scholars and average citizens, Jahangir’s journey envisions a path forward in U.S.–Iran relations based on a détente of sports diplomacy in combination with the ethics of fair play.

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