TEHRAN – Mojtaba Amini, producer of the controversial TV series “Gando”, has been appointed as president of the Fajr Film Festival.

In an announcement for the appointment published on Thursday, Cinema Organization of Iran director Mohammad Khazaei asked Amini to give consideration to several matters.
 
“It is expected that the 41st edition of the Fajr Film Festival, which will be organized internationally and nationwide, will provide a great opportunity for the Iranian cinema in the world and nationwide with a great regard to cultural diplomacy, understanding of regional and international considerations, and attracting the participation of the countries with common religious and cultural origins,” he said.

He also asked the new president to keep expenditures economical and avoid any extravagance in organizing the festival.

Amini is the producer of the TV series “Gando”, which reveals the true story of the major espionage case of Jason Rezaian, an Iranian-American journalist who served as Tehran bureau chief for the Washington Post.

Rezaian was arrested in Iran in July 2014 and was convicted of espionage in a trial in 2015. On January 16, 2016, he and three other U.S. citizens were released in exchange for the release of seven Iranians who were accused or convicted of sanctions violations.

The 30-episode docudrama directed by Javad Afshar was aired on IRIB Channel 3 in 2019. The series sparked some criticism from Iran’s Foreign Ministry, which was portrayed as an uninformed, neutral and Westernophile organization in the series.

Office of the former president, Hassan Rouhani, also called the story of the TV series the product of its screenwriter’s imagination.

The office asked the IRIB to revise its negative attitudes toward the government, while Amini accused the government of intolerance towards the truth.

Amini produced a sequel to “Gando” in 2021.

Photo: Producer of “Gando” Mojtaba Amini in an undated photo.

MMS/YAW