War photographer, filmmaker honored in Tehran

Iranian filmmaker and photographer Reza Borji has been honored for his lifetime achievements during a ceremony in the Iranian capital city of Tehran.

Borji, who is mostly known for his works on crises around the world, was celebrated in the attendance of cultural figures during an event at Tehran’s Resaneh Cultural Center earlier this week.

“All these years, I took photos, made films, wrote and sometimes only cried since I could do nothing for those who were caught up in trouble. I saw and cried with a couple that had lost all three of their children and were crying on their graves,” Borji said in his speech at the ceremony.

Borji was a colleague of Morteza Avini, the acclaimed documentarian who was martyred by a landmine in 1993 in the former Iran-Iraq war zone in southwestern Iran.

“I witnessed sixteen regional wars and went to Afghanistan 30 times,” he said, adding, “But I think my parents need to be honored since they lost their son 30 years ago in the [Iran-Iraq] war and the war still remains in our house since then.”

Borji made documentaries on the 1980-1988 Iraq-imposed war on Iran. He also has a large archive of photos from the conflict.

“I am a photographer and a cameraman. Sometimes I write and sometimes I paint, but I am sure if I go back in time, I would still do the same things,” Borji concluded.

AI/AI