TEHRAN – Celebrated Iranian filmmaker Majid Majidi is searching for the person who captured a video clip that shows an old man mourning alone during the Muharram rituals due to the health protocols for the coronavirus era.

Majidi, who is the president of the Mourning at Home Short Film Festival, plans to honor the person during the festival, the organizers announced on Tuesday.

The festival has been launched by the Rahe Iman Charity Organization this year to encourage people to stay at home during Muharram due to the COVID-19 pandemic and organize the rituals for their family members.

The video going viral on social media shows Ebrahim Kiai Borujeni, the father of a missing-in-action soldier from the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war, mourning alone on a sidewalk.

In an announcement published on Tuesday, Majidi called on people to help the festival organizers find the person.

Shia Muslims gather every year to commemorate the anniversary of the martyrdom of Imam Hussein (AS) and his companions with rituals that begin every year from the first day of Muharram.

The rituals reach their climax on Ashura, the 10th day of Muharram, the day upon which Imam Hussein (AS) and his companions were martyred in Karbala as a result of their valiant stand against the injustices of the oppressive Umayyad dynasty in 680 CE.

Due to the pandemic this year, numerous campaigns were launched before Muharram to encourage people to organize the rituals at home along with their family members.   

The Mourning at Home Short Film Festival will put its spotlight on short films covering the mourning rituals Iranian families practiced in their homes this year.  

Photo: Director Majid Majidi attends a press conference at the Rahe Iman Charity Organization in Tehran on August 26, 2020 to brief the media about the Mourning at Home Short Film Festival. (Mehr/Shahabeddin Qayyumi)

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