‘Eshnougel’ based on personal incentive: Producer

New film ‘Eshnougel’ on martyred Iranian divers in Iraq-Iran war was inspired by my personal experience, producer says to ifilm.

In an ifilm exclusive report with Ebrahim Asghari, the producer revealed the new film ‘Eshnougel’ (Snorkel) was made by his personal experience with a martyred Iranian military diver in Iraq.

“We have lost many divers in one of two operations. One part of it was my own personal motivation because one of my close relatives was among the divers martyred in the imposed war on Iran,” Soleymani-Saransari noted.

‘Eshnougel’ (Snorkel) is inspired by the true story of the Iranian scuba divers, who go missing while working on a mission to dig a tunnel during the war years.

The film is co-directed by Ali Soleymani-Saransari and Hadi Hajatmand.

“One or two years ago, we negotiated with Mr. Hajatmand and Mr. Soleymani about a proposition on the divers martyred in the Sacred Defense,” Asghari said, adding, “One was working on the issue of the divers martyred in Iraq-Iran war, because I think they were the most oppressed and vulnerable ones.”

The film stars Borzou Arjmand, Mahchehreh Khalili, Kaveh Sammakbashi and Rahim Norouzi.

The Iraqi-imposed war on Iran lasted from 1980-88. The bodies of the 175 martyred Iranian military divers were returned to Iran in 2015. Some of the retrieved bodies had their hands tied and bore no scars, indicating that the martyrs were buried alive by the forces of the former Iraqi Ba’ath regime.

AI/AG