Italian Film to Be Shot in Iran After 50 Years

The Italian filmmaker Costanza Quatriglio’s new movie ‘Just Like My Son’ will shoot part of her film in Iran.

Quatriglio’s drama is to become the first Italian production to be shot in Iran in more than 50 years, Screen Daily reported.

The shooting has already started in Italy and 30% of its story will be shot in different regions of Iran including Varamin county and Sangan village in Tehran Province and Baraghan village in Alborz Province from April 15.

Inspired by true events, the film is a story of an Afghan teenage boy, Ismail, who as a child escaped from the bloody civil war and the Taliban in Afghanistan. Now a grown-up man, he lives in Italy, but everything changes when he discovers that his mother may still be alive.

Croatia and Belgium are also involved in production along with Italy. The Iranian production partner Tangerine Film has recently joined the project. Thus the Italian, Persian and English-language film is the first Italian fiction feature to have an Iranian partner since the 1960s.

“In bureaucratic terms it has not been easy. The Iranian cinema industry is well developed but not very open to foreign productions. It took six months for us to get all the necessary authorizations,” producer Andrea Paris said.

“Shooting in Iran was crucial for us as it is the only safe country with a strong community of Afghan refugees,” he added.