TEHRAN -- Iranian director Kiumars Purahmad said on Sunday that U.S. author Lisa Genova’s debut novel “Still Alice” pushed him to make his latest movie “Where Are My Shoes?” on Alzheimer’s disease.

“I was reading ‘Still Alice’, translated into Persian by Shahin Ahmadi, during a trip,” Purahmad said at a press conference during the 34th Fajr Film Festival.

“The book reminded me about my mother’s suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and the idea for making a film about the disease never left me,” he added.

Purahmad consulted with a specialist about the disease in order to write a plot, which was changed into a screenplay by Saeid Mostafavi.

“Where Are My Shoes?” tells the story of Habib, an elderly man whose family leaves him alone due to his Alzheimer’s disease.

Reza Kianian, referred to in Iran as “the Iranian Robert De Niro”, plays the role of Habib.

“The role of Habib was very bitter and I didn’t like the bitterness,” Kianian said during the press conference.

“However, it was amazing for me to play the role of a patient with Alzheimer’s disease and I tried to lessen the bitterness of the role.”

In a recent interview, Purahmad praised Kianian for the efforts that he made to portray a man with Alzheimer’s disease.

He compared Kianian with Oscar-winning actress Julianne Moore in her portrayal of a Columbia University professor suffering from Alzheimer’s disease in “Still Alice” by directors Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland.

“Julianne Moore should learn acting from Kianian,” Purahmad said.

Moore won the best actress Oscar in 2015 for her role in “Still Alice”.

“Where Are My Shoes?” is competing in the official section of the Fajr Film Festival, which will end on Thursday with the announcing of the winners.

Photo: Director Kiumars Purahmad (L) and actor Reza Kianian attend a press conference for “Where Are My Shoes?” during the 34th Fajr Film Festival at Tehran’s Milad Tower on February 6, 2016. (ISNA/Mehdi Qasemi)

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