Inspired by the tragic story of Nasim Aghdam, a media figure of Iranian origin whose life and artistic practice deeply inspired Neshat, Do U Dare! explores the web of connections that bound the artists together. Filmed in three different socio-economic contexts in New York, the trilogy explores the paradox between women’s inner and outer worlds, between reality and illusion, and between American society and the Iranian female perspective.

The project tells the story of Nasim Aghdam, an Iranian woman who, because of her Bahá’í faith, fled to the United States as a child to escape persecution by the Iranian government. Growing up in a California suburb, isolated and struggling to find a sense of belonging in American society—while simultaneously losing touch with her Iranian roots—Aghdam created her own virtual world, launching a YouTube channel and performing in stylized videos that expressed her will, her anger, and her deep need to be seen. Through these provocative and unsettling videos, she embodied and subverted the universal image of women as objects of desire and control, challenging and mocking the public’s expectations. Her content went viral, garnering millions of views, until YouTube suddenly shut down her account. Devastated by what she perceived as a form of authoritarian censorship—similar to that suffered by her family in Iran—in 2018, at the age of 38, Aghdam entered YouTube’s headquarters armed, injuring several people and taking her own life.

Each of the three videos that make up the Do U Dare! trilogy unfolds in a different socioeconomic context within the New York metropolitan area, composing a fragmented portrait of Nasim Aghdam’s inner world.