ifilm's exclusive report on Iranian animation ‘The Elephant King’

Watch ifilm's exclusive report on the Iranian animation ‘The Elephant King’ directed by Hadi Mohammadian, produced by Hamed Jafari, and voice-acted by Saeed Sheikhzadeh.

Below are highlights of the report.

Experience shows that making animation in Iran has not been very successful and they still have a long way to go. But the film crew have made this film and it has been greatly welcomed.

Hamed Jafari, producer: In 2007 or 2008, we began making movies for children and young adults. When we were kids we had fond memories with our movies, but what we remember about animations all have to do with foreign animations. We wanted the children of the next generation who are our own children, growing up with this current cinema industry, we wanted them to have the protagonists of their own society. That's why we began working on animations which are the most effective field when it comes to children and young adults. Animations are effective for all age groups, but they influence children and young adults more than others.

Hadi Mohammadian, director: After 'The Princess of Rome' was screened which was our first cinematic work... when a movie is being made, you can't say whether it's going to be a hit or not. No filmmaker in the world can be sure of the result till it's publically screened and you get the feedback. That movie was made with the energy we put into it and all the ambitions we had, but it had many flaws, we knew it. We analyzed the feedback we received and came to this decision that if we're making an animation for children, we have to focus on the audience. We have to have priorities. In 'The Elephant King' we tried to reach the height of children. We thought if a child wants to hear a historical story, which angle would they like to hear it from.

MG/MG/FM/MMF