TEHRAN – Iranian filmmaker Narges Abyar has called for more collaboration between Iran and Turkey on the film industry.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Turkey’s state-run news agency, on Wednesday she said, “There are a lot of opportunities for cooperation between Turkey and Iran in the field of cinema. I think joint projects will be successful as our cultural nuances are similar.”

She noted that there are very few Turkish-Iranian co-productions in the market and said the collaborations should increase.

“We have a lot of common experiences on refugees. There are Syrian refugees in Turkey and Afghan refugees in Iran. Drug trafficking and human-interest stories can also be covered in the joint projects,” said Abyar, whose latest movie, “The Piebald”, won the best audience film award at the 39th Fajr Film Festival in Tehran in early February.

She praised Turkish filmmaker Nuri Bilge Ceylan, whose movies have been acclaimed in numerous international events, including the Cannes Film Festival, and noted people’s regard for Turkish TV series in Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and other neighboring countries.

Abyar pointed to “Drunk on Love”, directed by Iranian filmmaker Hassan Fathi about the story of the Persian mystic and poet Molana Jalal ad-Din Rumi and his spiritual mentor Shams-i Tabrizi, calling the movie a good example of a co-production between Iran and Turkey. 

Abyar, the director of acclaimed movies such as “Track 143”, “Breath” and “When the Moon Was Full”, received the HUM Women Leaders Award in the Pakistani city of Karachi in February 2020.

The award is presented to female achievers from Pakistan and abroad by the HUM Network Limited, a global entertainment and news network and one of the largest broadcasting brands with a strong following among South Asia diaspora around the world.

She was a jury member for the International Narrative Feature Films Competition at the 6th Herat International Women’s Film Festival organized in the Afghan city during last November.

Her 2019 drama “When the Moon Was Full” was screened at many international festivals and won awards, including the grand prize of the 2nd Carcassonne International Political Film Festival in France and the audience award at the 23rd Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival in Estonia.

Photo: Iranian filmmaker Narges Abyar. (Anadolu Agency)

MMS/YAW