Golestan Palace releases film on Mozaffar ad-Din Shah’s first visit to Europe

Iran’s Golestan Palace, a UNESCO-registered site located in Tehran, has recently released a film showing Persian ruler of the Qajar dynasty Mozaffar ad-Din Shah on his first visit to Europe in 1900.

The film was uploaded on the palace’s Instagram and website to observe the Research Day on the Iranian calendar in memory of archeologist professor Shahriar Adl who was the director of the French National Institute of Scientific Researches. He received UNESCO`s World Culture medal entitled “Five Continents” from UNESCO`s First Secretary, in Paris.

In 1982, Dr. Adl and his team were researching in the storehouses of the palace where they discovered three old footages recorded on 38 reels.

Having studied the films, Adle sent the reels to Paris in 2002 to be restored at the National Centre for Cinema and the Moving Image (CNC); the outcome of which was a 56-miniute film that is now being released by the palace.

Scenes of the film, which were shot by Mirza Ebrahim Akkasbashi, show Mozaffar ad-Din Shah attending a flower festival in Ostend, Belgium on August 18, 1900.

Parts of the film also depict the shah watching acrobatics and royal guards on the march, and traveling on the coach in Tehran streets.

Experts consider this film as marking the advent of cinema in Iran because it is the first film shot by an Iranian.     

Nasser-al-Din Shah, father of Mozafar al-Din Shah, was the first king in Iran who stepped into the Christian lands, and he has a major role in transferring the new theater culture to Iran.

The first trip of Mozaffar al-Din Shah was to Russia, Austria, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, and France in 1900. The king, like his father, had a special interest in music and various forms of art.

You can watch the whole movie here. 

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