The press meeting of the movie “Divine Reach” was held on Sunday, February 4, 2024. The movie was the first one shown on the fourth day of the 42nd Fajr International Film Festival (FIFF).
Ensieh Shah-hosseini, the sole female director at this edition of the FIFF, brings her fifth film to the audience.
The film has been coproduced by Saeed Seyyedzadeh and Farabi Cinema Foundation.
The film features a cast of less-known actors, including Masoumeh Bafandeh, Zahra Ahmadkhani, and Azam Razavi.
This cinematic work narrates the untold stories of the Sacred Defense (the 1980s Iraq-Iran war).
The flick combines documentary elements with a female narrative of the historical event. Seyyedzadeh, the movie’s producer, said that the cast and crew members could create a successful artwork despite all the difficulties.
“Our Revolution was a cultural revolution,” said Shah-hosseini, the director of the film.
“Imam vowed to return the dignity to the Iranian nation,” she further noted. “The war was imposed on us, and what we were chanting about in the Revolution was manifested in the war,” she pointed out.
The filmmaker added, “The artists who make a film about the Sacred Defense are losers if they don’t have a cultural and poetic outlook.”
She said that her film is a documentary, and the presence of a celebrity distorted the narrative.
“That’s why I used local actors who are very talented and have not yet had a chance to be seen,” she added.
Nasrin Ahmadi-Khani, the actress in the film “Divine Reach,” stated that she played the role of a resilient Arab woman in this movie.
Ahmadi-Khani emphasized the importance of having the right guide when preparing for a role in a film.She added that Ms. Shah-hosseini, who was very precise and well-versed in the story, assisted her.
Ahmadi-Khani continued that Zahra, the character in the story, is an Arab woman, and she tried to portray the characteristics of a resilient Arab woman actively involved in the war.
Regarding her performance of the Arabic accent in the film, she stated that Arab-speaking people from the south of Iran had provided valuable assistance to her.
She also said that all these efforts contributed to accurately portraying the character of Zahra.
Before the presser, a ceremony was held to commemorate Parvaneh Ma’soumi, an Iranian cinema and TV actress who passed away recently at the age of 79.
Presided by Mojtaba Amini, the 42nd edition of Iran’s largest annual film festival will be held from February 1-11, 2024, in Tehran.
