TEHRAN -- Tehran’s Grand National Hall hosted an event commemorating the 18th anniversary of the death of documentary filmmaker martyr Morteza Avini on April 9.

Avini was martyred by a landmine in 1993 during his last trip to the former Iran-Iraq war zone in southwestern Iran while making a documentary about soldiers who were still listed as missing in action.
The ceremony was attended by several cultural and cinematic figures including Majlis Cultural Committee chairman Qolam-Ali Haddad-Adel, documentary filmmaker Nader Talebzadeh, and one of Avini’s colleagues from those years Saeid Qasemi.
Haddad-Adel made the opening speech saying he had known Avini mostly through his programs on TV and his numerous articles.
Avini became famous for “The Narration of Triumph”. He was considered a “master of martyred writers” by his colleagues and war veterans due to the fervent narrations he wrote for his documentaries.
“When I watched ‘The Narration of Triumph’ on TV, I felt that it was of much higher quality than other productions on war. The narration had a literary style of writing which appealed to any type of audience.
“I do not claim to know Avini but I can say he made efforts to build a bridge between art and philosophy,” he added.
He continued, “Over the years, the life of every individual was strongly influenced by (Iran-Iraq) war, but it was Avini who made diligent efforts to record it.
His special attention to Persian language in his texts, and his strong but simple style of writing were the major characteristics of his works, added Haddad-Adel who is also the director of the Iranian Academy of Persian Language and Literature.
Talebzadeh was next who continued to talk about Avini and his activities in cinema. After the war, Avini became engaged in cinema, reviewed the position of Islam, and discussed the position of Muslim scholars in the world.
He also talked about his memoirs with Avini on producing a documentary they made on the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina under the title of “Dagger of Anemone”.
Talebzadeh also expressed his regret that there was no interview or TV program made with Avini during his lifetime.
“Avini knew that there would be a time in the future when some would not listen to what Imam Khomeini used to say and some might even make mistakes on narrating history, so he tried to document the war,” Qasemi said.
The ceremony was brought to an end screening parts of the documentary made by Avini.
Avini directed the 10-part series “A City in the Sky”, “With Kheibar Battalion”, “Spell or Miracle” and several other films. He published many essays and articles, all of which are held in high esteem throughout Iran.