TEHRAN -- The Farabi Cinematic Foundation (FCF) will be investing in six new film projects this year, said FCF director Ahmad Mir-Alaii.

The foundation is currently working on a project which centers on the poet Hafez, he told the Persian service of FARS.
Mohammed Shams al-Din (1315 or 1317-1389) was born in Shiraz. He gained the respectful title Hafez, meaning “one who has memorized the Quran” as a teacher of the Quran.
“The next project is a movie about the founder of the Achaemenid Persian Empire, Cyrus the Great, based on an idea initiated by Azizollah Hamidnejad. A professional team under the supervision of Jalil Erfanmanesh will take charge of the project and will soon begin writing the screenplay. Hamidnejad is willing to take the helm of the project, but it will still remain among his other priorities,” Mir-Alaii explained.
“We aim to focus more on Iranian luminaries in the movies, since they are our cultural heritage. These productions must find ways into the international arena to promote our culture and civilization,” he said.
Featuring the lives of Persian mystic poet Rumi as well as the Iranian philosopher Abu Nasr Farabi are the other two projects,” he added.
Molana Jalal ad-Din Rumi (1207-1273) left Masnavi-ye Manavi, Divan of Shams, and Fihi ma fih. A Muslim philosopher and a prominent musician, Farabi (c. 878-950) was regarded in the Arab world as the greatest philosophical authority after Aristotle.
“Our other works concentrate on Iran’s contemporary history. One project will depict the process of how the Iranian politician Ahmad Qavam (1882-1955) known as Qavam-us-Saltaneh rose to the position of prime minister of Iran and the incidents that happened during those years. Qavam-us-Saltaneh was a five-time prime minister of Iran from 1921–22, 1922–23, 1942–43, 1946–47, and in 1952.
The other movie will feature the royal lives of the Pahlavi dynasty, father Reza Shah (1878-1944) and his son Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi. Mohammad Reza (1919-1980) was the eldest son of Reza Shah Pahlavi, an army officer who became the ruler of Iran and founder of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1925.
Mir-Alaii further added that Iran can make movies targeting the Spanish-speaking and Russian-speaking countries. “We can make movies that can go on screen in those countries, and in this way, we can dominate the international market.”