'Not Without My Daughter' trivia and fun facts
First marriage
The film omitted Betty's first marriage and her two sons from that marriage.
Mahtob
The real Mahtob appeared as an extra in a school scene.
Moonlight
"Mahtob" in Persian means "moonlight".
Doctor Mahmoody
The real Seyyed Bozorg Mahmoody died in 2009.
The escape
In the book, Betty Mahmoody and Mahtob escaped Iran thru the northern mountain regions in the dead of winter with severe ice and snow. The producers planned to film the escape scene in the Eilat Mountain in Southern Israel. However, there was no snow that winter and the escape scene was going to scrapped. Many protests arose because they felt the scene was essential. Sally Field even threatened to quit the project. The producers looked for other locations but either they were too expensive or unsafe for the actors and the crew. Finally, the scene was re written to have Betty Mahmoodey and Mahtob traveling thru the desert in searing heat.
The point of view of Seyyed Bozorg Mahmoody
Mahtob's father, Seyyed Bozorg Mahmoody, later told his view of the events in the documentary film 'Ilman tytärtäni' (2002), aka "Without My Daughter."