Not Without My Daughter

Mom, you be careful.

ALPENA, MICHIGAN 1984

I think this is longer than it used to be!

What a lovely day.

BASED ON A TRUE STORY

- Dad is looking so well.

- He is, isn't he? He always was a fighter.

- Look at Mahtob.

- She's such a daddy's girl.

Well, so were you.

Moody, Mahtob, Dad!

Come on. Fresh, home-made lemonade.

Come on, everybody.

Mom, Daddy's teaching me

how to fish again.

- Can I see today's catch?

- One of these days, oh ye of little faith.

- Here you go. Dad, d'you want lemonade?

- Yes.

OK.

- Ah.

- Sour?

- A little.

- Not enough sugar? I never get that right.

Hey, Mahtob.

What vitamins do we get from lemons?

- What vitamins do we get from lemons?

- Vitamin C.

Yes. What vitamins

do we get from bananas?

- Vitamin C, vitamin B and fibre.

- Right!

- None of my kids was as smart as that.

- Great. Thanks, Mom

- And what are you gonna be?

- A nurse.

- You can be a doctor as well.

- A doctor and a nurse.

How do you teach Mahtob to fish

when you've never caught one?

Honey, it's the best way.

This way I'm totally unprejudiced.

He bought all this fishing equipment

and he's had her out there every day.

If it's a choice between your lemonade

and my fishing, I know where I stand.

- I wanna sit on Daddy's lap.

- Well, it's my turn.

- Don't fight over me, girls.

- You should find another lap.

And then we have... Thank you.

.. a 30-year-old woman with a Class 3

Pap smear for a TAH, so I think...

The Iranians have prayed themselves

back into the Stone Age.

Why would anybody come to the States

to study medicine?

You can get a degree in Iran in two weeks.

Seven days.

The Ayatollah's got some great ideas.

A soldier gets wounded, let him die.

He's gonna go to paradise anyway.

- See that newspaper?

- The Iranian funny page?

How can he read that thing?

Looks like one of my prescriptions!

I've read that prescription.

- No, no, don't turn it off.

- It's OK.

- Honey, what's wrong?

- Nothing's wrong. I'm fine.

What's wrong?

The family - is everything all right?

Everybody's fine. They're fine.

By the way, Mammal phoned.

He and Nasserine have had a baby boy.

That's great.

A couple of doctors

were making cracks again.

- Who were they?

- What does it matter?

It matters, Moody. It matters.

We moved here to get away from all that.

- God, it's just so awful!

- Oh, honey, forget it.

Honey, forget it.

There are dumb people everywhere.

Forget it.

"And the genie roared with laughter.

Ha ha ha!"

"O thou poor thief

of a thousand alleyways. "

"You think you can marry

the Sultan's daughter

when all the princes in Persia

are seeking her hand?"

"You foolish slave,

replied Aladdin boldly. "

"Have you forgotten

the precious jewels in the cave?"

"You have the wits of a donkey. "

"I should put you back

into the dirty old lamp. "

- Is there really Aladdin's cave?

- There must be.

- Can we find it?

- I'm not sure if I know where it is, but...

You know, I was born in Persia.

They call it Iran now.

If I took you there,

maybe we could look for it together.

Iran's got caves and mountains

and deserts, just like in the story.

And mosques

that are so beautiful they're like jewels.

When the sun shines on them

they dazzle your eyes.

Would you like to see those?

OK. Where were we?

- Daddy?

- Uh-huh?

Do I hate Americans?

Of course not.

Lucille says I hate Americans

because you're from Iran.

Sweetheart... Lucille doesn't really know

what she's talking about.

So we shouldn't pay

too much attention to her.

I've lived in America for 20 years.

I'm as American as apple pie.

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