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Iran’s ‘Holocaust’ serial captivates audiences |
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Written by News Editor
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Wednesday, 10 October 2007 |
Lebanon news, Lebanese radio
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Beirut
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Iranians are captivated by a TV serial about a love story set against the backdrop of the Holocaust. The love story portrays the relationship between an Iranian man and a French-Jewish woman during WWII time.
The theme is generally familiar, but its appearance in an Iranian television series has drawn the attention audiences in the Islamic republic.
The epic 30-part drama, from a country whose president openly questioned the Holocaust, tells the story of a Jewish woman who is saved from the death camps by an Iranian.
“Zero Degree Turn” portrays the relationship between Habib Parsa and Sarah Struck, who meet at university in Paris before the Nazi invasion of France. Habib woos Sarah by attracting her with his knowledge of eastern mystic poetry and philosophy.
But when the Nazis occupy Paris, Sarah is forced into hiding. She and her mother are saved by Habib, who works at Iran's embassy in Paris and sends her to Iran with an Iranian passport.
It is marked by a high-quality attention to historical detail, both in its evocation of wartime Europe - mostly shot on location in Budapest and Paris - and its painstaking recreation of 1940s imperial Iran under shah Reza Pahlavi.
Director and screenwriter Hassan Fathi said the idea for the series came to him when he was researching a previous hit serial.
"I stumbled upon books and papers about the efforts by Iranians in embassies in countries like France and Romania who helped thousands of Jews escape the racist Nazi forces. The idea captivated me, and I decided to base my love story on such a theme."
The 25 episodes broadcast, so far, have been shown on Iran's flagship national channel in a primetime slot after the news every Monday evening, partly over the fasting month of Ramadan that is traditionally a booming time for serials.
The reaction from Iran's film-mad viewers has been ecstatic. "It is a well-crafted serial because the atmosphere and the characters are so convincing, especially the depiction of Iran under the first Pahlavi," said Mahmoud, 52, an engineer.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stirred worldwide controversy by saying the Holocaust was a "myth."
Ahmadinejad's stance on the Holocaust, however, has been rarely repeated by top Iranian officials and, on occasion, even flatly contradicted.
Iran also remains home to the largest Jewish population in the Middle East outside Israel. The 25,000-strong community has its own MP, and is granted religious freedom under the constitution.
"When I worked on the script between 2002 to 2004, the issue [the Holocaust] was not controversial in the Iranian political arena," said Fathi.
"In Zero Degree Turn, we sympathized equally with the innocent Jews - the victims of the Nazi crimes in World War II - as much with Palestinians falling victim to Zionist oppressions."
No scenes are shot inside the Nazi death camps, but one passage shows Jews being told to wear yellow stars of David to identify themselves.
Equally enthralling as its depiction of wartime Europe has been the serial's portrayal of Iran under the shah Reza Pahlavi, the father of shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who was deposed by the Islamic revolution in 1979.
Open discussion of life under the Pahlavis is rare on Iranian television, but Zero Degree Turn has gone to great lengths to ensure the atmosphere of 1940s Iran is recreated, right down to police uniforms and the now-frowned-upon neckties.
"My paying meticulous attention to details emanates from my sense of duty as an artist. This serial is like a novel - one has to pay attention to every minute detail," said Fathi.
Fathi is hopeful the production will be able to cross borders to be shown in Europe and other countries. |
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