Gen. Soleimani meets ‘The 23’ crew in ‘That Day’

Lieutenant-General Qassem Soleimani’s meeting with the crew of ‘The 23’ has become the theme of a short documentary titled ‘That Day’.

Directed by Mikaeel Dayyani, the 30-minute documentary is a production of Mehrdad Moazzami from the Owj Arts and Media Organization, an Iranian institution that produces revolutionary works in art and cinema.

‘That Day’ is released through platforms providing Video on Demand (VoD) services and the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting's (IRIB) channels.

In October 2018, General Soleimani went to the filming location of the epic movie ‘The 23’, meeting the young actors who played the main roles.

Directed by Mehdi Jafari, ‘The 23’ narrates the life and wartime experiences of 23 Iranian teenage volunteers who were captives during the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war.

The movie manifests the bravery and heroism of some 23 teenage boys who were prisoners of the Iraq-Iran war.

The gravity of their selflessness for their country has been the reason for a number of authors and filmmakers to develop projects about them.

In 1983, a group of teenage soldiers who had enrolled to defend their homeland got arrested by the Iraqi army.

Attempting to show how youngsters were unwillingly sent to the war, Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi president of the time, put on a show and masqueraded as a defender of people’s rights giving the 23 flowers and promising them to be freed soon.

His plans went in vain as the 23 heroes of the story went on a hunger strike which cost them eight years of incarceration.

Shooting for ‘The 23’ took place in the capital city of Tehran and the southern Iranian city of Abadan in a three-month course.

The project was financed by the Owj Arts and Media Organization.

‘The 23’ received a largely positive reaction from the audiences at its premiere at the 37th Fajr Film Festival in Iran. The flick grabbed six National Will Manifestation awards of the 37th Fajr.

It has also been named the film of the year by Iranian National Commission for UNESCO.

General Soleimani, who was the commander of the Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), was assassinated by a US drone strike at Baghdad’s international airport on January 3, 2020.

Read more:

‘The 23’ reveals trailer

‘The 23’ goes behind-the-scenes

Watch ‘The 23’ meeting with Saddam Hussein

ifilm exclusive report on Iranian feature ‘The 23’

IRIB to air TV films on General Qassem Soleimani

MG/AG