Majidi began his cinematic career as an actor and director of short films, all centering on religious and revolutionary themes. Mohsen Makhmalbaf, who would also go on to renown as a film director, stood guard duty as well. Majidi, then 20 years old, would stand guard in front of the Arts Unite headquarters at night – an expression of his readiness to defend the new regime.
He first came to notice at Arts Unite (Howzah Honari), a government entity established soon after the overthrow of the shah in 1979 as a stronghold of revolutionary art. Internationally known for Children of Heaven (1997), the first Iranian film to be nominated for an Academy Award, Majidi maintains a special place within the Iranian power elite. While it appears that many lead creative positions have been entrusted to foreign filmmakers, a major exception is the director himself. Photograph: ATTA KENARE/EPA Photograph: Atta Kenare /EPA Iranian movie director Majid Majidi speaks to reporters in Tehran in 1999 after his movie "Children of Heaven" was nominated for an Oscar. The names of many other international award winners have been associated with the project, though without official verification. Anderson, visual effects supervisor for films such as Adventures of Tintin, Superman Returns, and Starship Troopers, was employed as well. Cinematographer Vittorio Storaro, a three-time Academy Award winner for Apocalypse Now, Reds, and The Last Emperor, arrived in Iran with a 30-man crew. There was no further mention of the Foundation of the Oppressed, whose purported mission of serving the destitute was hard to reconcile with the film’s staggering budget.īy now, there was widespread discussion of the project’s ever-rising cost – new estimate: $50 million – and the involvement of celebrated movie-industry figures from abroad. No information was released about its structure or directors, and the entire production seemed to be proceeding under special security measures. The total budget was not made public, but sources close to the production said that it was $35 million (US dollars) – nearly 20 times greater than the next largest Iranian production to date.Īfter a year of little more than rumors, in November 2012 the first reports appeared on officially sanctioned websites about the film, to be titled Muhammad’s Childhood. Mohammad Mehdi Heidarian, a regime insider and former vice minister of culture and Islamic guidance, was announced as producer. A heretofore unknown organization called Shining Light (Nour-e Taabaan), was named as the project’s financial backer. The primary location, an enormous replica of sixth-century Mecca, would be constructed outside the holy city of Qom, about two hours’ drive south of Tehran. The movie, Hosseini said, would be produced by the Foundation of the Oppressed (Bonyad-e Mostazafan) – a government-controlled charitable corporation with billions of dollars in holdings. The first news came the following month with two announcements: Famed director Majid Majidi declared that he was shooting a film that would “bring pride to Iran and Iranians.” And minister of culture and Islamic guidance Mohammad Hosseini casually mentioned that a movie was being made about what might be the most controversial artistic topic in the world: the Prophet Muhammad. There had been no leaks regarding the production. In October 2011, under a complete media blackout, the most ambitious and expensive cinematic project in Iranian history was launched.
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