Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

Alex Gibney explores the phenomenon of Stuxnet, a self-replicating computer virus discovered in 2010 by international IT experts. Evidently commissioned by the US and Israeli governments, this malware was designed to specifically sabotage Iran’s nuclear programme. However, the complex computer worm ended up not only infecting its intended target but also spreading uncontrollably.

On February 28, 2026, the US and Israel launched massive strikes on Iran, claiming an imminent nuclear threat. This film traces how the world reached this point after more than three decades of shadow war over “the bomb”. Israel has tried to block Tehran’s nuclear drive with sabotage, assassinations and cyberwar – from the Stuxnet virus wrecking Natanz centrifuges to the AI-assisted killing of nuclear programme “father” Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, and a commando raid stealing 1.5 tonnes of secret nuclear archive files. Iran insists uranium enrichment is its sovereign right and key to national identity and regional power. As Israel pounded Iran’s nuclear facilities in June 2025 and systematically weakened its allies in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria and Yemen, nuclear talks continued in Geneva. Iran was edging towards diluting weapons-grade uranium – but Israel wasn’t prepared to wait, and pulled Washington into open war whose global consequences are only now beginning to unfold.

Filmed at the Théâtre de la Main d'Or on October 22, 2010. Dieudonné returns with "Mahmoud", in what can be described as "a contemporary artistic testimony with a strong humorous content." He tells us about the incredible events that led him to meet the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He takes us back in time and transports us to the 16th century on a plantation in Martinique to discuss the courteous relationships between masters and their slaves. He also talks about the all-powerful and revered field of medicine... only to mock it, of course. And it feels good!

Filmed at the Théâtre de Marens in Nyon on April 27, 2011. Dieudonné returns with "Mahmoud", in what can be described as "a contemporary artistic testimony with a strong humorous content." He tells us about the incredible events that led him to meet the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He takes us back in time and transports us to the 16th century on a plantation in Martinique to discuss the courteous relationships between masters and their slaves. He also talks about the all-powerful and revered field of medicine... only to mock it, of course. And it feels good!

What kind of world power is Iran becoming, and how will Western countries deal with it?

Iran, 2008. As President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's motorcade creeps through the teeming streets of Qom Shrine, thousands of people jam hand-written letters into the hands of his handlers. Hearing their President deliver a speech is a thrill, but more promising to these men and women is the hope that their letters - expressing pleas for loans, medical attention, housing and jobs - will be answered. Since his 2005 election on a populist, "man of the people" platform, Ahmadinejad has encouraged Iranians to send him such letters; according to a staff member, he has received about 10 million of them, and has been able to respond to nearly 76 percent. In one letter, a 16-year-old boy says his family has no money and goes to bed hungry every night. According to the staff member, the boy will be helped. As other letters are read, the worker says that "In Islam, charity is a necessity."

Afghan filmmaker Mithaq Kazimi documents injustices done to a targeted group of his neighbors, the Baha'is of Iran, by telling the life story of one current prisoner, Fariba.

From 2009 till 2011, Manon Loizeau succeeded in clandestinely collecting testimonies from inside Iran about the two years of revolt and repression.