TEHRAN – The organizers of the 10th edition of the Ammar Popular Film Festival plan to honor the crew of “Gando”, a docudrama that revolves around the spy case of Iranian-American journalist Jason Rezaian.

The head of the Policymaking Council of the festival, Vahid Jalili, announced the news in a press conference held on Tuesday at Hosseinieh Honar, a center for revolutionary artists in Tehran.

Directed by Javad Afshar, the 30-episode series was aired in July on IRIB Channel 3. It is about Jason Rezaiaan who served as Tehran bureau chief for the Washington Post.

Rezaian 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 series faced some criticism from the government and the Foreign Ministry, which were portrayed as uninformed, neutral and westernophile organizations in the production.

Established by a number of Iranian revolutionary figures, the Ammar Popular Film Festival has been named after Ammar Yasir, a close companion of Prophet Muhammad (S).

The 10th edition of the festival will be held in Tehran during January 2020.

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

RM/MMS/YAW