“Little Schumacher” story appeals to another filmmaker

July 30, 2012 - 14:33
TEHRAN -- The life story of the first Iranian female race car driver, Laleh Seddiq, who is known as “little Schumacher”, has attracted the interest of another filmmaker.
 
Iranian director and producer Masud Atyabi has said that he plans to make a film about Seddiq, the Persian service of the Mehr News Agency reported on Monday.
 
No title was mentioned for film, which will be financed by the private sector.
 
Atyabi plans to hire several writers to write a screenplay for the film in the near future.
 
Shooting is scheduled to begin in Bahrain, which was the host for the Formula One Grand Prix Race in April 2012.
 
Atyabi is scheduled to enter talks with officials of the Iran Cinema Organization to get their approval for his project.
 
In early July, Iran Cinema Organization (ICO) announced that it is backing “Laleh”, a film which will be directed by U.S.-based Iranian filmmaker Essy Niknejad about Laleh Seddiq. 
 
The film will cost about 70 billion rials (over $3.5 million) which will be provided by ICO’s Documentary and Experimental Film Center (DEFC) and U.S. and Canadian companies, which have remained anonymous so far.
 
The companies will join the project due to their close relationships with Niknejad.
 
A controversy has stirred over the plan to allocate such a large sum of money for the film project.
 
MMS/YAW
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