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Majid Majidi named Islamic Revolution Artist of the Year

Published: April 20, 2016 

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World renowned Iranian filmmaker Majid Majidi was named the Islamic Revolution Artist of the Year, the selection having been made for the first time on Tuesday by the Art Bureau.

He received the title for making “Muhammad (S), the Messenger of God”, his acclaimed epic on the childhood of the Prophet of Islam (S).

Majidi was honored at Andisheh Hall during a ceremony attended by a large number of cineastes and cultural figures.

“I don’t deserve this title,” said Majid and added, “The real artists are martyrs who prepared the ground for us in obscurity and modesty.”

He remembered Morteza Avini, the acclaimed documentarian who was martyred by a landmine in 1993 when he was making a documentary in the former Iran-Iraq war zone in southwestern Iran, and said, “He supported me early in my career.”

Actors Parviz Parastui and Hossein Mosafer Astaneh; filmmakers Javad Afshar and Hadi Mohammadian, and painter Abdolhamid Qadirian; graphic designer Danial Forrokh; and authors Sara Erfani and Behnaz Zarrabi were also nominated for the title.

Majidi hired a group of renowned international craftsmen and artists, including director of photography Vittorio Storaro, editor Roberto Perpignani, special effects designer Scott E. Anderson, makeup designer Gianetto De Rossi and Indian composer A. R. Rahman, to make “Muhammad (S), the Messenger of God”, which he believes shows a proper perception of Islam.

The film was selected as Iran’s submission to the 88th Academy Awards in the best foreign language film category. However, it was not nominated by the competition that nominated his “Children of Heaven” in 1998. / Tehran times /