TEHRAN -- Filmmakers Alireza Davudnejad, Reza Mirkarimi, Mohammad-Mehdi Dadgu, and Majid Majidi presented Mohammad Beheshti, who was once head of the Farabi Cinematic Foundation, with a plaque of service.

In a ceremony held on Friday evening, a video was screened about the life of Beheshti, made by director Kiumars Purahmad, which also featured poetry by Sohrab Sepehri, recited by Reza Yazdani, and the music of Fardin Khalatbari.
In one part of the video Beheshti himself talked, saying “At the present time, one cannot believe that Iran’s domestic cinema is facing such a decline. However, although it might be far from my ideal and the people’s ideal, a cinema which is still famous in the world should not be considered defeated.”
Veteran actor Ezzatollah Entezami in one part of the video referred to Beheshti as the “Architect of Iran’s Cinema”
Later, Purahmad continued, “This is the first time that cineastes are paying tribute to a governmental official. Beheshti was different from other managers, his behavior was different. He called all the cinematic figures his children and his brothers.
“He was the type of person who really served people in every position in which he worked,” he added.
Mohammad Beheshti was later appointed head of Iran’s Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization and he is currently working as the head of the National Committee of Iranian Museums.
Beheshti drew the ceremony to a close, expressing his gratitude to the big family of the Iranian cinema, and said,
“I remember when I left the Farabi Foundation 14 years ago, the goodbye session was like a funeral, and it was like attending my own mourning ceremony. Now, after all these years, it is as if I have come back from the other world to see my friends, it is just like a dream for me. I hope it isn’t a nightmare for you.
“The image that springs to mind when I think of Iran’s cinema is of an edifice which is weakening on four sides but which is being supported on six sides. Therefore, this cinema can carry on for ever,” he concluded