Documentaries stolen from filmmaker’s house

“The thieves have taken all the audio-visual equipment, the camera, and the PC the holds copies of all the films I have made over the past years,” he said.

“Also included are copies of unfinished docs among which are dailies of a documentary on Iran’s presidential election which was halted the day after election day on June 12.”

“The police were informed immediately after I arrived home and noticed the burglary. My house, part of which is my office, is located on the first floor, making burglary a bit difficult,” he remarked.

Despite the break-in, the Isfahan branch of the Young Iranian Cinema Society still intends to hold a retrospective of Shirvani this month.

“The Candidate”, “Iranian Conserve”, “President Mir Qanbar”, “444 Days”, and “Blind Filmmaker” are among Shirvani’s productions slated to go on screen during the month-long event. The movies will be reviewed in the presence of the director on January 20.

Shirvani is an old hand at making politically themed films. He previously directed “President Mir Qanbar”, a documentary on Mir Qanbar Heidari, a 75-year-old retired civil servant from a remote part of Iran’s Azerbaijan region, who ran for the presidency of the Islamic Republic.

The movie was screened at the Locarno, Rotterdam, Sheffield and other international film festivals. It received the Award of Excellence at the 17th Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival in Japan in October 2005.

His “444 Days” is also a documentary focusing on U.S. diplomats John W. Limbert and Lowell Bruce Laingen who were detained at the embassy, dubbed the “Den of Spies” by Imam Khomeini.

RM/YAW

END

MNA