Watch ‘The 23’ meeting with Saddam Hussein

In an ifilm exclusive report, Iranian director of 'The 23' talks about the scene featuring former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

Mehdi Jafari said to ifilm how his flick is different from a documentary with "a touch that could impress the audience," adding in the scene the 23 teenage POWs meeting Saddam Hussein, he designed "the setting based on reality in a way we would like to be."

Based on the memoir ‘Those 23 Individuals’ by Ahmad Yousefzadeh, '23 People' is a war drama depicting the true story of a group of Iranian teenage volunteer troops who fell captive to enemy soldiers in the early 1980s during the war between the US-backed Saddam Hussein regime and Iran.

Premiering at the 37th Fajr Film Festival (FFF) in February 2019, the film has received wide recognition including the Best Film from a National View award from the festival’s National Competition, as well as the film of the year from the Iranian National Commission for UNESCO.

AG/AG