The Iranian comedy hit ‘I Am Not Salvador’ directed by Manuchehr Hadi, which holds the title of Iran’s all-time best-seller with $4.5 million, has begun screening in Turkey.
Thematizing on moral values and family issues, Iranian dramas have found a great status globally and are screened in numerous foreign film festivals. They have also won several awards.
Although many movies collect positive reviews and are warmly welcomed by the festival audiences, they do not usually find an opportunity for public screening abroad and the titles which do have a chance are limited to award-winning films such as Asghar Farhadi’s ‘About Elly’, The Past’ and ‘A Separation’.
However, this is the first time a comedy which has not attended any festivals is being shown outside Iran. A total of 30 movie theaters across Turkey started screening ‘I Am Not Salvador’ on July 14, Farabi Cinema Foundation announced in its website.
Written by Reza Maqsudi, the story centers on an Iranian man, Naser (played by well-known comedian Reza Attaran), who is invited to take a trip to Brazil with his family. There, he is mistaken by a local girl, Angel, for her ex-fiancé called Salvador; this is the beginning of a series of funny incidents.
Iranian actors Yekta Naser, Jila Sadeghi, Mehdi Mehrabi and Sogol Mehrabi along with Brazilian actresses Carol Vidotti and Barry Fiocca are in the cast.
Former Brazilian soccer star and Barcelona midfielder Rivaldo has also appeared in the film playing his own character. A large part of the movie, produced by Amir Parvin-Hosseini and Mansour Sohrabpour, was shot in Brazil and 20% in Tehran.
