Our Man in Tehran

Ben Affleck’s Academy Award–wining blockbuster Argo rekindled public awareness of Canada’s pivotal role in the rescue of US embassy staffers during the 1979 Iran hostage crisis. The film paid homage to the valiant efforts made by then-ambassador Ken Taylor, as well as his wife and colleagues, to provide a safe haven and counterfeit documents to the six Americans who made it out of Tehran unscathed.But Argo was entertainment first and foremost—“based on a true story” but not the whole story. In this gripping new documentary, the “Canadian Caper” is told by the man who knows it best: Ken Taylor himself. Separating the historical facts from the liberties taken in Argo, Taylor offers a vivid, first-person account of the weeks of nervefraying tension as he and his collaborators put their clandestine plan in motion, knowing that the slightest slip-up could mean dire consequences for all. No detail is spared— from the risks taken in secretly sheltering the six Americans in the Canadian embassy and helping them flee the country, to Operation Eagle Claw, the US’s failed attempt to rescue the other 52 Americans being held hostage at the captured American embassy.Also featuring interviews with the rescued Americans, former Prime Minister Joe Clark, and ex-CIA officer Tony Mendez (Argo’s main protagonist), Our Man in Tehran chronicles the amazing true story behind the thrilling feature film. Awarded a US Congressional Gold Medal and an Officer of the Order of Canada, Taylor is a real-life hero—our hero.