TEHRAN -- Another cineaste was added to a group of several Iranian filmmakers who are dreaming of producing a film on the Iranian occupation of the U.S. embassy in Tehran in 1979, as producer Iraj Taqipur announced on Saturday that he is seeking investors to make a film about the Iran hostage crisis.
Taqipur told the Persian service of ISNA that he plans to hire a cast of foreign actors for the project entitled “Meeting at Sheremetyevo”.
He said that if he fails to provide the necessary funds, a cast of Iranian actors and crew will be signed for the project, which is scheduled to be helmed by “Copper and Gold” director Homayun As’adian.
According to Taqipur, the screenplay for the film is being written by Farhad Tohidi, who announced in 2012 his plans for writing a screenplay for a TV series about the seizure of the U.S. embassy in Tehran in 1979.
He said that he would see Ben Affleck’s Iran hostage drama “Argo” to complete his research for writing the series entitled “The Broken Paw”. However, the serial was never produced.
In addition, Iran’s Art Bureau announced in January 2013 its plan for responding to “Argo” by making “The General Staff”, another film project about the 20 American hostages who were delivered to the United States by the Iranian revolutionaries in 1980. This project was also never produced.
In September 2013, Iranian producer Jamal Sadatian also said that he was gathering information for making a film about this subject. However, his plan also has not been implemented yet.
Meanwhile, Taqipur said that his “Meeting at Sheremetyevo” should not be presumed to be a response to “Argo”, which was officially viewed as an “anti-Iranian” film.
“We want neither to respond to Hollywood nor to compete with it,” he said and added, “We only want to make our own film.”
MMS/YAW
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