The first essay of filmmaker Ghazaleh Golbakhsh’s collection, The Girl From Revolution Road, transports readers to her childhood in Iran and an illicit party where family and friends are drinking and dancing to the Bee Gees before being swooped upon by armed police, detained and, for her father, sentenced to 60 lashes. It’s a collection juxtaposing the riches and challenges of Iranian life alongside poignant observations of resettlement in New Zealand. Infused with a gentle humour Golbakhsh provides a fresh perspective on being torn between her immigrant roots and her desire to be like everybody else, and dispels the simplistic notion of “Iran bad, New Zealand good”. In a timely celebration and examination of the overlapping of two cultures, she speaks with Dan Salmon.