TEHRAN – Ebrahim Hatamikia, director of the acclaimed movies “From Karkheh to Rhein” and “The Glass Agency”, has replaced Jamal Shurjeh to complete a TV series project on the Prophet Moses (AS), which has remained unimplemented twice over its directors’ illness.

The project, which is being produced by Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), was to be made by Farajollah Salahshur. However, he failed to fulfil the plan after he was diagnosed with lung cancer. He ultimately died in 2016 after which IRIB decided to implement the project with another director.        

In 2018, Salahshur was replaced by Shurjeh who also failed to resume the massive project due to a brain disease.   

In a press release published on Sunday, IRIB announced that it has reached an agreement with Hatamikia to implement the project after two months of negotiations.

He is currently rewriting the screenplay to commence making the series as soon as possible.

Speaking to IRIB, Hatamikia called his agreement for making the series a debt of gratitude to Salahshur and added, “In addition, among the numerous stories I’ve made, I see there is an absence of a Quranic story, therefore, I fervently take on this heavy responsibility.”

Hatamikia has previously made the TV series “The Red Soil” and “The Green Ring” for IRIB.

Producer Seyyed Ahmad Miralai also said that a team is currently searching for an appropriate actor to cast in the role of the Prophet Moses (AS).

He also noted that a cast of Iranian and foreign actors will be working in the serial, which will be produced in 50 episodes.    

In 2018, when Shurjeh was selected to replace Salahshur in the TV series, IRIB announced that that the script of 44 episodes of the project had been written by a cleric named Hojjatoleslam Saeid Bahmanpur.

In addition, Shurjeh had spoken about his plan to pick an obscure stage actor who was familiar with Quranic teachings to star as Prophet Moses (AS).

In a meeting with Salahshur in 2011, Egyptian actor Abdel Aziz Makhyoun had said that he was eager to play the role of the Prophet Moses (AS). 

Photo: Director Ebrahim Hatamikia attends a press conference after the premiere of his movie “Exodus” during the 38th Fajr Film Festival at Tehran’s Mellat Cineplex on February 7, 2020. (Jamaran.ir/Fatemeh Rajezi)

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