Farmanara Adapting Fasih’s Novel Into Series

The Story of Javid (in Persian Dastan-e Javid), a sad and gripping tale of lost innocence, written in 1980 by eminent Persian novelist and translator Esmail Fasih (1935-2009), is to be adapted into a drama series by acclaimed veteran film director, screenwriter and film producer Bahman Farmanara, 75.

Farmanara is planning to start shooting in early spring and sell the series as home video package, ISNA reported.

Together with filmmaker Majid Heydari and his son Mahan, Farmanara is working on the script that could contain 24 episodes.

The Story of Javid is set in Iran during the Qajar era (1784-1925). The protagonist is Javid, a young boy from a village near the city of Yazd in central Iran.

Javid’s father works in the capital Tehran serving Qajar royalty as a house keeper. The job enables him to send some money home for his family.  He usually visits his family every other year but it has been a while since his last visit.

In the absence of the father, Javid grows anxious and decides to go to Tehran in search of his father.  After arrival he gives everyone he meets a description of his father but to no avail. His honesty and truthfulness eventually lands him a job as a servant.

After many years he finds out that his father had been murdered. But he is not able to find the culprit. He feels bitter and vengeful and is estranged from his culture and heritage. At the end of the story, he is transformed into a man different from the truthful boy he was when he came to the city.

With 24 published novels and five collections of short stories, the late Fasih earned himself a unique place among contemporary writers of Persian fiction. With a writing career spanning over four decades, he established himself as an outstanding chronicler of the hardships in his homeland.

Farmanara traveled to the UK and the US to study acting and directing. He graduated from the University of Southern California with a bachelor’s degree in cinema in 1966. Back in Iran, he has directed 10 films, most of which are popular with the public and critics.