Sat 19 & Sun 20 Dec 2026 / Kinepolis Antwerpen

DocumentaryInternationalCompetitionFeature

COUP 53

Director

Taghi Amirani

Country / year

IR/GB/US · 2019

Running time

120 min

Language

in EN/FR/IT/FA

With Iran and the world once again on the brink, COUP 53 feels less like history and more like a warning. In 1953, a military coup led by British MI6 backed by the CIA overthrew Iran's democratically elected Prime Minister, Mohammad Mossadegh. His crime: nationalising the country's oil. The truth behind that original regime change for oil was buried for decades. Iranian director Taghi Amirani spent ten years uncovering what really happened. Working with legendary editor Walter Murch (Apocalypse Now, The Conversation, The English Patient) and a gripping performance by Ralph Fiennes, the film unfolds like a John le Carré spy thriller — except every word is true. COUP 53 exposes the roots of today's tensions with rare clarity and urgency. A documentary. A detective story. A reckoning.

Credits

Director
Taghi Amirani
Screenplay
Taghi Amirani, Walter Murch
Cast
Ralph Fiennes
Production
Taghi Amirani

Screenings

Sat 19 Dec18:45

Zaal 12 · Kinepolis Antwerpen

This screening is included in the festival pass.

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Watch trailer