The "53 Coup" documentary has been chosen as most popular films of the 14th Iran International Documentary Film Festival known as “Cinema Verite”.
The film depicts the 1953 Iranian coup d'état, known in Iran as the 28 Mordad coup d'état.
In August 1953, the British intelligence agency and its American counterpart, the CIA, initiated the coup by the Iranian military, setting off a series of events, including riots on the streets of the capital Tehran, which led to the overthrow and arrest of Iran’s first democratically-elected government of Mohammad Mosaddeq.
The coup, which was followed by the temporary rule of CIA- and MI6-approved General Fazlollah Zahedi, enabled the monarch, Mohammad-Reza Pahlavi’s return from exile in Italy. It also consolidated the monarch's rule for the following 26 years until the victory of Iran’s Islamic Revolution in 1979, led by Imam Khomeini, which toppled the Pahlavi regime.
Mosaddeq, who was convicted of treason by a court-martial after the coup, served three years in solitary confinement and eventually died under house arrest in exile in 1967.
The historic overthrow, though, is still given as a reason for the Iranians' mistrust of the UK and the US.
The 14th Iran International Documentary Film Festival opened in Tehran on Tuesday.
This week-long cinematic event is underway totally online and will be wrapped up on December 22.
Directed by Mohammad Hamidi-Moqaddam, the Iranian festival has several sections including the National, International, and Martyr Avini Prize, Entrepreneurship Documentary Competition, Corona Virus Special Section, Side Sections, and commemorations.
In the meantime, several expert workshops, master talks as well as masterclasses will be held in this international cinematic event.
The national competition section comprises short, mid-length, and feature-length documentaries.
The international section of this edition will be held in a non-competition format due to the spread of Coronavirus.
ZZ/PR
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