TEHRAN – Iranian screenwriter and filmmaker Kambuzia Partovi died of COVID-19 at Tehran’s Day Hospital on Tuesday. He was 65.

He was admitted to the hospital for a heart disorder, however, he passed away when his lung was infected by coronavirus, Farabi Cinema Foundation director Alireza Tabesh told the Persian service of MNA.

His latest movie “Truck” that recounts the story of a Yazidi woman who becomes homeless after the Iraqi ethnic and religious minority is attacked by Daesh forces in the summer of 2014, premiered at the 36th Fajr Film Festival in Tehran in 2018.

He was also directed the acclaimed drama “Border Café”, which was Iran’s submission to the Academy Awards in the Best Foreign Language Films category in 2007.

He made his debut feature film in 1987 with “The Fish”, which was acclaimed in several international events, including the Giffoni Film Festival in Italy.

Partovi was most famous for his skills in writing. His “Border Café” and “Truck” and “I Am Taraneh, 15” by Rasul Sadr-Ameli and “Ferrari” by Alireza Davudnejad won the awards for best screenplay during the various editions of the Fajr Film Festival, Iran’s most important film event.

In 2015, he was invited by director Majid Majidi to co-write “Muhammad, the Messenger of God”, the most expensive film ever made in Iran about the childhood of the Prophet of Islam (S). The film was produced with a budget of over $50 million.

After completion of the screenplay, he said that the epic is not limited to a certain group of people or a certain geographical area and added, “I worked on the characters in a way that would be acceptable for everybody.”

In a statement published on Tuesday, Majidi expressed his grief over Partovi’s death and wrote, “Dear Kambuzia, I hope the prophet of kindness intercedes for you on the Judgment Day for your service to him and the contributions you made for years to the movie ‘Muhammad, the Messenger of God’.”

In his screenplays and films, Partovi showed that he could not remain indifferent to the issues that were going on the world.    

In “Truck”, he portrayed the atrocities of the war that broke out in the region initiated by the ISIS terrorists.
 
“By this film, I intend to say that we could be good supporters for each other during hard times, and giving shelter to the refugees could be viewed as an exercise in humanity,” he said after the premiere of the drama at the Fajr Film Festival in Tehran.

“We still witness everyday people who are losing their lives across the world as they are fleeing from their homes under the fire of wars to take refuge in other countries,” he lamented.

Photo: Kambuzia Partovi in an undated photo (Tasnim/Hamed Malekpur)

MMS/YAW