ITV has greenlit an undercover documentary filmed inside Iran, drawing on citizen-shot footage and anonymised testimony from the protests and conflict that have defined the country's last two years. "Inside Iran: War & Revolution" — a one-off film from UK documentary studio Zandland — airs on ITV1 and streaming service ITVX on 9 August, with an international release on Zandland's YouTube channel. Deadline

The film opens with an on-screen graphic that sets the stakes plainly: "Almost all of the footage in this film was filmed inside Iran by citizens taking significant personal risks." It is told through the eyes of an anonymous Iranian journalist, piecing together footage from mass protests, hospitals where the injured were treated and then faced arrest, and the broader crackdown by Iranian authorities during the 2025–2026 protests and the recent conflict with the United States. Deadline

Some contributors have their voices altered or identities concealed because of the risk of punishment or execution. ITV's own press description calls the film a "rare, unfiltered picture" of a population caught between domestic unrest and war. ITV Press Centre

Behind the camera is Ben Zand, the British-Iranian filmmaker who runs Zandland out of London and Liverpool. Zand directed the film; Maya Rostowska produced, and Josh Reynolds and Zand executive-produced. The commission came from ITV's Controller of Current Affairs, Tom Giles — the same executive who commissioned Zandland's previous ITV project, "Breaking Ranks: Inside Israel's Army," which earned a BAFTA nomination. Deadline

Zandland built the film alongside ITV News. In April, the partnership produced an exclusive report from inside Iran that led ITV News at Ten as the programme's lead story, and Zandland released an excerpt it described as a "secret war diary from inside Iran." LinkedIn Facebook

What gives the project its weight is the simple fact of access. Foreign journalists operate under heavy restrictions in Iran; the footage here was gathered by citizens who, as the film's opening note makes clear, could face severe consequences for recording what they saw. The result is a documentary built from material that, by definition, almost no outside camera crew could have captured.

ITV is listing the film in its programme information for the week beginning 8 August. Viewers in the UK can watch on ITV1 or ITVX; international audiences can find it on Zandland's YouTube channel. ITV Press Centre Instagram