IRIB chronicles war documentarian Avini

The Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) has offered a docudrama on the life of the documentarian of the Iraq-Iran war, martyr Seyyed-Morteza Avini, on the occasion of his national commemoration day which falls on April 9 this year.

Produced by the Owj Arts and Media Organization, in collaboration with the Islamic Revolution Documentary House, and directed by Abbas Seyyed-Ebrahimi, the docudrama is titled ‘Mr. Morteza’.

The producer of the series, Mehdi Motahhar said, “This series covers the entire life of martyr Avini from his birth until his martyrdom, and we have tried not to ignore any significant topic from his life story.”

“Many books and various works have been produced about martyr Avini, and to avoid any parallel trend we did our best to recount all details about him in the seven-episode series,” he added.

Motahhar also noted that the series has been made based on the information gathered from people who had close relations with the martyred documentarian.

Filmmakers Ebrahim Hatamikia, Rasoul Sadr-Ameli, Nader Talebzadeh, Kioumars Pourahmad, Behrouz Afkhami, and Fereydoun Jeirani have been interviewed for the documentary.

Scholars such as Masoud Naqibi, Mohammad Avini, Maryam Amini, Shahriar Zarshenas, Mohammad Rajabi, Yousefali Mirshakkak, Amir-Houshang Ardalan, Qasem Bakhshi, Reza Borji, and Mohammad-Reza Shahidifar also made comments about Avini in the series.

The late documentarian was martyred by a landmine in 1993 during his last trip to the former Iraq-Iran war zone in southwestern Iran while making the documentary ‘A City in the Sky’ about the fall of Khorramshahr and the liberation of the city during the war.

Known as the master of martyred writers in Iran, he is mostly known for making ‘The Narration of Triumph’.

Commemorating the martyred documentarian, the Cinéma Vérité, Iran’s major international festival of documentaries, honors films on war and resistance every year with Avini Awards in a special section.

In addition, the Art Bureau of the Islamic Ideology Dissemination Organization commemorates Avini’s martyrdom anniversary in April every year by organizing the Islamic Revolution Art Week.

MG/AG