Film premiers in Tehran

Director Mohammad Bozorgnia along with several cast and crew members attended the premiere of his new film “The Maritime Silk Road” here on Thursday at Tehran’s Farhang Theater Hall packed with cineastes and fans.

“The Maritime Silk Road” is about a man called Soleiman Siraf who, according to historical documents, was the first sailor to cross the Indian Ocean to China. His route was later called the maritime Silk Road and many merchants took that route to ship their merchandise to China.

The ceremony began with the brief speech delivered by Farabi Cinematic Foundation (FCF) Director Ahmad Mir-Alaii, in which he expressed his thanks to the officials who made great efforts in production of the film over the past few years.

“I am happy to say that the foreigners’ efforts in distorting the name of the Persian Gulf is no longer effective. Anybody in the world who watches the film ‘The Maritime Silk Road’ needs no explanation about the name of the region, which is quite an admirable effort by Bozorgnia,” Mir-Alaii said.

“And today many countries are eager to screen the film, so we are also busy submitting the film to the international festivals,” he added.

Film expert Ali Mo’allem next called Bozorgnia a respected and an honest man who does not feel jealous of other’s success.

“We own a glorious history in the Persian Gulf, part of which I tried to depict in the film, which I hope will be warmly received by the audiences,” Bozorgnia said.

Veteran actor Ezzatollah Entezami also invited the participants to watch and enjoy the film and asked them not to pursue unworthy films.

Actor Dairush Arjmand stated that the history of this land has been left alone and hoped the film could help the history to come out of this isolation.

Afterwards, cast members including Bahram Radan, Pegah Ahangarani, and Payam Dehkordi as well as the crew were honored, which was followed by a screening of the movie.