Don’t Tell My Mother, I am in Iran (National Geographic)

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Don’t Tell My Mother is a television programme hosted by Diego Buñuel and shown on National Geographic Adventure.

For the past ten years, Diego Buñuel has been a foreign correspondent for French Television covering all kinds of countries like Iraq, Afghanistan, or the Congo. Every time he left for one of his stories, he would tell his production crew in the Paris office, “Don’t tell my mother I am in Colombia, it makes her really nervous.” After a few years of traveling repeatedly, Diego realized that the international news coverage, of which he was part of, only focused on the worst headlines possible. So Diego embarked on a rather unusual effort; to talk about countries that make headlines, but instead on focusing on the same three basic stories, he extended the reach of his eye to look at a more subtle vision of these countries, full of culture, people, interests that rise high above the daily news reports.

While one may not necessarily associate Iran with hip-hop, host Diego Buñuel checks out an underground rap show in Tehran, featuring a performance by a local mullah’s son. With a huge following and representatives from more than 30 countries, Diego attends the Olympics of Koran reading where participants memorise and recite entire chapters of the Koran from heart. Meeting with a Jewish antiques dealer in Tehran, Diego shares alcohol made from grapes before visiting one of the city’s synagogues and heading over to the Iranian parliament with one of its Jewish members. In Esfahan, Diego takes in a local basketball game and hits the town afterwards with an American player finding stardom in Iran. At Tehran’s Museum of Contemporary Art, Diego examines works of Picasso, Jackson Pollack, Andy Warhol, Monet and more – all of which have remained in basement storage since 1979. At the Caspian Sea, Diego hitches a ride with police who monitor the waterways for caviar poachers.