Modified Version of ‘House of God’ for FIFF

The modified version of the documentary ‘House of God’ directed by the late  actor and filmmaker Jalal Moqadam will be shown at the 35th Fajr International Film Festival (FIFF), slated for April 21-28 in Tehran.

The film was made in 1966 by Moqadam on the issue of the Hajj pilgrimage and the rituals performed by Muslims in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It has been modified with the help of the National Film Archives of Iran, where the original movie is kept, Mehr News Agency reported.

Last year, for the first time, two classic films of Iran cinema were modified and shown during the 34th FIFF. ‘The Lovers’ Wind’ directed and produced by the late French filmmaker Albert Lamorisse  in 1970 and ‘The Cow’ by veteran Iranian director Dariush Mehrjui  in 1969 were the two works for which the fervent audiences packed halls for all the showings at the festival.

So “we decided to expand this section of showing classic films and finally decided on three Iranian and seven foreign movies,” said Alireza Shoja-Nouri, spokesman of the festival.

The foreign films have been received after negotiations with film companies in the world and the Iranian productions will be prepared through the efforts of Ladan Taheri, the manager of National Film Archives of Iran. The name of the other nine films will be announced later.

Moqadam (1929-1996) was an actor, writer and director. He wrote the script for seven films, directed eight and played in 17 movies including Ali Hatami’s ‘The Love Stricken’ (1992), Masoud Kimiai’s ‘Snake Fang’ (1990) and ‘The Lead’ (1988).

Jalal Moqadam