.jpg "Farrokh Nemati plays the Iranian children’s writer Mehdi Azar Yazdi in a scene from “The Storyteller”.")
TEHRAN -- Iranian TV has recently produced a biopic about Mehdi Azar Yazdi (1921-2009), the writer of the Persian bestseller “Good Stories for Good Children”.
Directed by Mostafa Kushki, “The Storyteller” will be broadcast from Channel 2 during Noruz, the Iranian New Year celebration that will begin on March 21 this year, producer Ahmad Seyyed-Paydari announced in a press release on Monday.
A boy from Yazd, Azar Yazdi’s hometown, plays Azar Yazdi in childhood, and Nima Naderi and Farrokh Nemati play him in youth and adulthood respectively, he added.
Khatereh Hatami, Vahid Rahmati, Mehrdad Ziaii, Marjan Shokufaki and Ali Soleimani are other members of the cast.
Azar Yazdi’s life story has been highly regarded by filmmakers after his death.
The Saba Art and Cultural Institute is currently producing a 3-D animation series based on his “Good Stories for Good Children”, which earned him national fame.
In addition, Puria Azarbaijani directed “The Old Man and the World”, a docudrama about Azar Yazdi, which was aired and reviewed on Channel 4 in July 2012.
He simplified stories from classic Persian masterpieces such as the Gulistan, Masnavi-e Manavi, Marzbannameh and Sinbadnameh to write “Good Stories” in eight volumes.
It also comprises stories from the Holy Quran and the life of the Prophet Muhammad (S) and his Household (AS).
The book won a UNESCO prize in 1966 and was selected as Iran’s book of the year in 1967. His “Adam” won the title in 1968.
Azar Yazdi’s credits also included “The Naughty Cat”, “The Playful Cat”, “Simple Stories”, “Poetry of Sugar and Honey” and “Masnavi for Good Children”.
MMS/YAW
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