TEHRAN – The Embassy of Poland in Tehran has expressed sympathy over the death of the celebrated Iranian filmmaker Khosro Sinai who died from COVID-19 on Saturday. 

On its Twitter, the embassy pointed to the 1983 acclaimed documentary “The Lost Requiem”, for which Sinai was honored with the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland in 2008.

The film was about the story of the wartime exodus to Iran of thousands of Polish citizens after being released from the Soviet labor camps of Siberia during World War II. 

In a letter published on Monday, President Hassan Rouhani also extended his condolences over the death of Sinai.    

“With his attachment to the national and Islamic culture and his deep understanding of social concerns during his professional life, this artist made honorable social documentaries and left an eternal profile,” he wrote.

Sinai made many documentaries, including “The Melody Which an Antique Hears”, “Beyond the Clamor”, “The Coldness of Iron”, “Haj Mosavvar al-Maleki” and “Hossein Yavari”.

He was also the director of the documentary “Talking with a Shadow” about Iran’s foremost short story writer, Sadeq Hedayat, who was influenced by world literature, especially European literature, and had read the works of Kafka, Poe and Dostoyevsky.

“Bride of Fire”, his feature drama starring Hamid Farrokhnejad, won the Crystal Simorgh for best screenplay at the 18th Fajr International Film Festival in Tehran.

Photo: Cover of a DVD copy of Khosro Sinai’s documentary “The Lost Requiem”.

MMS/YAW