‘Iran-Syria’ film triumphs at BO

‘Not political’

TEHRAN, May 16, (Agencies): While Iran’s presence in Syria raises global fears of an all-out conflict with Israel, one cinematic version of its intervention has been a Tehran box office triumph.

Released for the Persian new year at the end of March, “Be Vaght-e Cham” (“Damascus Time”) pulled in almost 1.4 million viewers, making it the second-most popular film in the country according to cinematicket.org and is now being touted abroad.

It tells the story of father-and-son military pilots running a rescue mission for refugees in Syria, only to be caught up in a deadly hostage-taking by the Islamic State group (IS).

Filmed in Syria and Iran, it features the sort of expensive special effects rarely seen on the Iranian silver screen.

Self-sacrifice

It ends with an act of melodramatic self-sacrifice as one of the main characters gives his life to prevent an attack on the presidential palace in Damascus – an ending that reportedly left Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif with tears in his eyes when he attended a screening earlier this year.

“I have a feeling this film gives a better sense of what’s happening in the region than what we see in the foreign media,” said Shahabi, a student, as he left a showing in Tehran recently.

Iran has sent military advisors, along with thousands of Iranian, Afghan and Pakistani “volunteers” to fight in Syria.

But that aspect of the intervention is barely seen in the film, which focuses on explaining “what is DAESH (IS) and what are its crimes”, according to director Ebrahim Hatamikia.

Hatamikia built his career on the back of films about the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s, and has occasionally run into trouble with censors over his depiction of social problems.

“This film is not political. It’s a human and humanitarian film. We are faced with DAESH, which displays the flag of Islam but is a satanic deviation,” said Hatamikia.