.jpg "Alireza Shojanuri plays the role of Abd al-Muttalib, the grandfather of the Prophet Muhammad (S), in Majid Majidi’s “Muhammad (S)”. (Photo by Mohammad Foqani)")
TEHRAN -- Oscar-nominated Iranian filmmaker Majid Majidi has said that he is concerned about the content of a series project on Prophet Muhammad (S), which Qatar plans to make with the help Hollywood companies.
“We welcome every film which will be made based on the pure Islam of Muhammad (S) but… we are concerned that the series may show an image, which is irreverent to Islam,” Majidi told the Persian service of ISNA on Friday.
In October 2012, Majidi began shooting “Muhammad (S)”, a $30m film that depicts the life of the Prophet of Islam from the age of 12 until his appointment to prophethood.
“Hollywood’s pattern for making a film on the Prophet of Islam is not good. I wish Qatar would ask for help from the world of Islam for making the series,” he stated.
Majidi added that Iran was ready to give help to Qatar in writing the screenplay and directing the film.
“They may tamper with the story, which is dangerous. Like many other films that they made and did so,” he noted.
Majidi said that the Hollywood companies are under the influence of Zionists and added, “How could Zionism, which has engaged in a struggle against all religions particularly Islam, make a film based on Islamic values? How have the Qataris given such a big project to those who completely have no connection to Islam?”
Qatar recently announced a series designed for a worldwide audience about the life of Prophet Muhammad (S), the Hollywood Reporter reported last week.
Production company Alnoor Holdings has hired German-American Jewish film producer Barrie Osborne and Sunni Islam scholar and al-Jazeera broadcaster Yusuf al-Qaradawi to work on the project, which will have a budget of $1 billion.
He has hired a number of the world’s heavyweights in the film industry for “Muhammad (S)”.
Academy Award winning visual effects supervisor and filmmaker Scott E. Anderson, three-time Academy Award winning Italian director of photography Vittorio Storaro, world-renowned Croat production designer Miljen Kreka Kljakovic and several other world celebrated cineastes are collaborating on this project.
Majidi’s “Children of Heaven” earned Iran’s first Oscar nomination in 1999.
MMS/YAW
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