TEHRAN – The Avini Art and Cultural Institute said on Tuesday that plans to make a sequel to “Gando”, a controversial docudrama that revolves around the spy case of Iranian-American journalist Jason Rezaian.

The director of the institute, Mehdi Naqavian, said that a team of writers is working on the script for “Gando 3”, which follows a spying story in the country.

He said that President Ebrahim Raisi’s government has provided spiritual support for “Gando 3”, easing the obstacles in the way of organizations trying to produce such a series.

The institute also plans to make an animated movie based on the Gando story. In addition, the story will be turned into a computer game. 

Two previous seasons of the series were directed by Javad Afshar. 

Both projects were produced by Mojtaba Amini, who then was selected as president of the Fajr Film Festival.

Rezaiaan served as Tehran bureau chief for the Washington Post. He 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 first season of “Gando” comprising 30 episodes was aired on IRIB Channel 3 in 2019.

It sparked some criticism from Iran’s Foreign Ministry, which was portrayed as an uninformed, neutral and Westernophile organization in the series.

The office of the former president, Hassan Rouhani, called the storyline 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.

“Gando 2” was broadcast from IRIB in 2021.

Photo: Actor Payam Dehkordi portrays Jason Rezaian in the Iranian TV series “Gando”.

MMS/YAW