TEHRAN – The art book of “The Bodyguard”, Ebrahim Hatamikia’s political drama, was unveiled during a ceremony held at the Owj Arts and Media Organization on Monday.

The idea of publishing the art book, which contains film reviews, backstage photos, the storyboard and a lot of details about the film, has been initiated by the Hatamikia’s son Esmaeil. 

The unveiling ceremony was attended by a number of cineastes and the film cast and crew members including actress Merila Zarei, Persian media reported on Tuesday.

Speaking at the ceremony, the director of photography of “Bodyguard”, Mahmud Kalari, said that working on the project was a good experience for him.

“A number of people gathered to produce the book and have mentioned whatever they have experienced during the film production in this book,” he said.

“I must say that this book is quite new and contains good photos and information. Also, we can use it as a reference book to see in what situation the cinema of Iran was standing in the year 2016,” he added.

For his part, Esmaeil also expressed his appreciation to the director of Owj, Ehsan Mohammad-Hasani, for his support.

Director of the House of Cinema Manuchehr Shahsavari in his brief words said that knowledge is the base of cinema and it must be taken into consideration.

Director Hatamikia said that the publication of the book might seem to have been a project upon which too much money has been spent, but gaining the experience was a necessity.

Actress Zarei also called it a very interesting move and wished that every team effort could be recorded in such a book. 

Filmmaker Fereydoun Jeyrani expressed his opinion on the publication of the book and said that no such book has been published; however, if there had not been a willing investor like Owj, the book would never have been published.

The ceremony concluded with the cineastes placing their signatures on the poster for the book.

Photo: “The Bodyguard” director Ebrahim Hatamikia speaks during the ceremony that the Owj Arts and Media Organization organized on October 31, 2016 to unveil an art book of the political drama. (Mehr/Mehran Riazi) 

RM/YAW