The Release of the 10 Billion Tomans Film 'Mohammad' in Iran and Canada

Starting from Thursday, September 5, the public screening of 'Mohammad', the most expensive film in the history of Iranian cinema, began in theaters across Iran. This film is also set to be showcased at the opening of the Montreal Festival in Canada. The film 'Mohammad' narrates the life story of the Prophet of Islam from childhood to adolescence and is being screened in approximately 140 cinemas in Tehran and other cities. According to its director, it cost '100 billion tomans' to produce, featuring notable international contributors such as Vittorio Storaro, a three-time Oscar-winning cinematographer, Roberto Perpignani as the editor, Scott E. Anderson, an Oscar-winning special effects supervisor, Gianto Drosi as the makeup artist, and A.R. Rahman, an Oscar-winning composer. For the Montreal Festival premiere, director Majid Majidi, along with several cast members including Alireza Shoja Nouri, Mehdi Pakdel, Mina Sadati, and Sareh Bayat, have traveled to Canada. Other actors in this 171-minute film include Mohsen Tanabandeh, Dariush Farhang, Rana Azadivar, and Hedayat Hashemi. However, the news of the film's screening has faced reactions from some Islamist institutions both inside and outside Iran. For instance, Abdul-Daim Nusayr, an advisor to the leader of Al-Azhar, stated in an interview with AFP that 'the actor playing the Prophet Muhammad might later portray a criminal in another film, which could lead viewers to associate this sacred character with crime.' Meanwhile, Mr. Majidi has recently stated in several interviews that the film does not show the face of the Prophet Muhammad even as a child. On the other hand, Majid Majidi has commented on potential criticisms from Sunni and Shia groups regarding his film, saying, 'Our entire effort was to depict a period of the Prophet Muhammad's life that has no disagreement among different Islamic groups and to create a consensus.' According to this director, 'Our aim is to have a correct interpretation that promotes unity and to explain the necessity and reason for the emergence of Islam.' 'Mohammad' is considered the most expensive film in Iranian cinema history, with its production costing around 100 billion tomans. Rahmatollah Sadeghian, chairman of the board of the Noor Tabaan company that produced the film, provided a report on the film's production process and the Prophet Muhammad's city, stating: 'This multi-purpose city for making Islamic historical films was built on 220 hectares, costing 141 billion for the Mecca section, 69 billion for the Bostra church, 42 billion for Medina, and 12 billion for the assembly hall.' He also mentioned that the cost of purchasing cinematic equipment for the film was 79 billion tomans and added that other expenses included 3 billion for the screenplay, 6 billion for research, 152 billion for pre-production, 310 billion for production, and 151 billion for post-production. The investor for this film is Noor Tabaan, a cinematic company affiliated with the Foundation of the Oppressed in Iran, whose head is appointed by Ayatollah Khamenei every five years. After the public screening of Majidi's three-hour film, which initially had a runtime of about five hours, it is set to be broadcast as an eight-part series on Iranian television. This film is the most likely candidate for Iran's submission to this year's Oscars and will have its international debut at the Montreal Festival, which began on September 5 and will continue until September 16. Majid Majidi has previously won the best film award at this festival for his films 'Children of Heaven', 'The Color of God', and 'Rain.'