TEHRAN -- The Iranian documentary “Lion Tomb” is an entry in the competition section of the 13th RAI International Festival of Ethnographic Film in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Directed by Mahvash Sheikholeslami, the doc shows the process of making and installing stone lions on graves and tombstones, a tradition believed to date back to the Elamite period in the late 4th and early 3rd millennia.
In Iran, the lion has been a symbol of power and bravery for over 5000 years. The stone lions were placed on the graves of heroes of the Bakhtiari tribes over the centuries. The Bakhtiari live in the provinces of Kohkiluyeh-Boyer Ahmad, Chaharmahal-Bakhtiari, and Lorestan, and some parts of Khuzestan.
The “Lion Tomb” specifically follows a man as he makes a new lion tomb stone for his own son, a brave young man.
Organized by the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain & Ireland (RAI), the festival is held biennially.
This year, it will be running from June 13 to 16 at the National Museum in Edinburgh, in conjunction with the combined anthropology departments of Scotland.
RM/YAW
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