After a big win at the 36th Fajr Film Festival (February 1-11), director Bahram Tavakoli is preparing for his next feature film.
His last film ‘The Lost Strait’ won top prizes of the festival including awards for the best film, best director and best actor in the leading role as well as technical awards for the best special effects (mechanical), sound mixing and makeup.
His next film will be funded by cinema producer Saeed Malekan. It is about ‘The Life of Jahan Pahlevan Takhti,’ ILNA reported.
Tavakoli has recently completed the script of the project. The screenplay will be a dramatic story of Gholam-Reza Takhti (1930-1968), an Iranian Olympic gold-medalist wrestler and Varzesh-e Bastani (traditional sport) hero, popularly nicknamed Jahan Pahlevan (world champion) because of his chivalrous behavior and sportsmanship.
Takhti was the most popular sportsman in Iran in the 20th century although dozens of other athletes have won more international medals than he did. Takhti is still a hero to many Iranians and is listed in the FILA wrestling hall of fame.
The champion is remembered for his heroic act in 1962 after the magnitude 7.1 earthquake of Buin Zahra, Qazvin Province. A total of 12,225 people died in the disaster, 2,700 were injured, and 21,310 houses were destroyed.
Officials were concerned that large numbers were suffering and had no aid. Takhti rose to the occasion and went on to gather money, food, blankets and other assistance for the victims.
Tavakoli and his crew are currently selecting the filming locations. Cast members will be announced soon.
His last film ‘The Lost Strait’ is about the military operations of the Ammar Battalion near the end of the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war where Iranian troops courageously defended Fakkeh, a region in the northwest of the oil province of Khuzestan, against Iraqi attacks and did not let it fall into enemy hands.
Although in recent years there have been few if any quality movies on the Iraqi-imposed military aggression, Lost Strait collected rave reviews from critics and was warmly welcomed. It ended up among the top five films selected by the audience.
So far, only one film has been made about Takhti. The celebrated director Ali Hatami took up the task of making a movie on the life of the champion. However, it was unfinished due to his untimely death in 1996 at the age of 52.
Behrouz Afkhami tried to finish the project but not exactly continuing the life story of Takhti. His film, instead, focused on a director who researches on the life of the champion.
