A father and his daughter
clash over her work as a journalist.
He fears for her safety.
To protect her, he risks losing her forever.
Story
Logline
When his daughter’s journalism draws the attention of the Iranian regime, a father in exile resorts to desperate measures to protect her—risking the very bond he is trying to save.
Synopsis
An Iranian taxi driver has lived in Germany with his adult daughter for years. When her work as a journalist draws attention from the Iranian regime, his long-buried fears begin to resurface.
While he becomes convinced she is in danger, she refuses to believe him. His attempts to protect her grow increasingly extreme—threatening to destroy the bond he is trying to protect.
This is a story of transnational repression and the invisible scars it leaves behind.
Development
The feature-length adaptation of DOKHTAR’AM is currently in development. The project is supported by the FFA (Germany) and has been selected for TFL Next, the treatment development programme of TorinoFilmLab.
Working Title:
THE VOICE OF MY FATHER
After the fall of Iran’s regime, a Berlin court interpreter hears her father’s voice on a recording in an assassination case — and slowly becomes what she once hoped to expose.
Trailer
Festival Highlights
- Official Selection – Internationale Kurzfilmtage Oberhausen 2025 (Germany)
- Audience Award – Berlin International Short Film Festival 2025 (Germany)
- Official Selection – Filmtage Friedrichshafen 2026 (Germany)
- Best Cinematography – Canberra Short Film Festival 2025 (Australia)
- Official Selection – Beverly Hills Film Festival 2026 (USA)
- Selected for the 2026 issue of the German Short Films Catalogue by AG Kurzfilm
Director's Biography
Pedram Sadough is a German-Iranian filmmaker exploring exile, identity, and the lasting impact of political repression.
He studied Media Culture at Bauhaus University Weimar and Social Sculpture at Oxford Brookes University, and is co-author of Abbas Kiarostami – The Creation of Visibility (Schüren, 2010).
His films explore identity and homeland—both as places of yearning and as something one can never fully escape, a theme he is currently developing into a feature-length project based on DOKHTAR’AM.
Cast
Father: Massud Rahnama
Daughter: Jasmin-Nevin Varul
Granddaughter: Berîvan Ilhan
Technical Details
Germany, 16’30 min
Color, 1.78:1 (16 x 9), 4k DCP, Dolby 5.1
Farsi/German (English-subtitled)
Crew
Directed, written & edited by: Pedram Sadough
Cinematography: Adam Kaiser-Lynch
Produced by: Sonja Gillert, Annika Birgel & Rudolf Fitzgerald Leonard
Production Manager: Janine Kaiser-Lynch
Production Design: Carina Wolf
Costume Design & Props: Sonja Gillert
Sound: Thibauld Weiler, Rita Karmela Dabrowska, Rael Anderson, Joshua Ridgeway
Music by: Max Cave, Andrei Martynchyk
Sound Design & Mix: Nils Gradlowsky
Color Grading: Ilya Marcus
Contact
pedram@dokhtaram-film.com
© 2025 Sonja Gillert & Pedram Sadough. All rights reserved.
Impressum (Legal Notice)
Verantwortlich im Sinne § 5 TMG:
Pedram Sadough
Skalitzer Straße 85–86
10997 Berlin, Germany
E-Mail: pedram@dokhtaram-film.com
Responsible according to § 5 German TMG (Telemedia Act)
Pedram Sadough, Skalitzer Straße 85–86, 10997 Berlin, Germany