TEHRAN – A number of officials from the Iranian Judiciary, Foreign Ministry, as well as the Cinema Organization of Iran attended the Tehran premiere of “The Thin Red Line” by Farzad Khoshdast at Farhang Theater on Sunday.

The film tells the story of a group of young adults serving their sentences in a juvenile detention center where they decide to stage a play with the help of several acting tutors, so that they can leave the center to attend the Fajr theater festival, but some cast members plan to escape on the day of the performance.

Hadi Sadeqi, the Judiciary chief’s deputy for cultural affairs, Alireza Delkhosh, the director of Foreign Ministry’s Department for Public Diplomacy, Farabi Cinema Foundation director Alireza Tabesh, producer Gholamreza Musavi, documentarian Mostafa Razzaq-Karimi and theater director Amir Dejakam were among the officials attending the premiere of the drama. 

Speaking at the ceremony, Khoshdast said that it is an honor that the judiciary officials have shown special attention to the film.

“It was a while ago when a teenager who grew up in an orphanage gave me a message on my cellphone saying that the film made him withdraw from a plan for a big robbery after he had watched the film in Mashhad. This is a good achievement for the film,” he said in a short speech made before the screening.

“The film wants to say a school of psychodrama is needed to be established in the country. I am sure the result could be seen across the society if this kind of school is established. Felony and crime lead to felony and crime, and aggression ends to aggression, but this school could break this chain,” he explained.
    
Dejakam also made a short speech and said that he has been pursuing the establishment of a psychodrama school to decrease the number of young criminals.

Hojjatoleslam Sadeqi also talked about the film and said art enjoys high potentials but it has not been used much in the country.

Delkhosh also said that the juvenile detention center or a prison can both act like a place to serve the sentence, while it can also act like a university and a good opportunity for a successful life.

Starring Farhad Aslani, Hengameh Qaziani, Amir Dejakam, Afshin Hashemi and Yasser Khaseb, the film was honored at the 38th Fajr Film Festival. 

Photo: A scene from “The Thin Red Line” by Farzad Khoshdast.

RM/MMS/YAW