Iranian animation Legend of Sepehr hits Russian silver screen in memory of Minab kids
Iranian animated film The Legend of Sepehr has opened in 89 Russian cinemas, with a ceremony in Moscow honouring 168 people mostly schoolchildren killed in a US missile strike on the Shajareh Tayyebeh School in Iran’s southern city of Minab.
The young children lost their lives on the first day of the US-Israeli military aggression against Iran on February 28.
“This act of aggression was a great and painful crime, and we must not allow this crime to disappear from the memory of humanity,” Iran’s Ambassador To Russia Kazem Jalali told the opening ceremony, IRNA reported on Tuesday.
He said Iran’s cultural days in Russia, due to be held in October in Saint Petersburg, Moscow and Kazan, would feature a 168-member Iranian artistic group in memory of the victims.
Iran’s cultural counsellor in Russia, Abdolreza Rashed, also attended the event.
Konstantin Yulkin, chief executive of Russian film distributor Russian World Vision (RWV), welcomed the screening and described the movie as a “good film for children”.
“We express our sympathy to everyone who lost their children in this tragic tragedy and hope that this will not happen anywhere else in the world,” Yulkin said.
Vyacheslav Sengayevsky, chief executive of Russian company Kianosh Impex, which handled the animation’s dubbing, promotion and theatrical release, said the company had moved ahead with the project after welcoming the filmmakers.
He said the film had opened in 89 cinemas and would gradually roll out across Russia.
“It is very important for Iranian artists to come to Russia and for Russian artists to come to Iran. Through these exchanges, we will be able to build a bridge of friendship between our countries,” Sengayevsky said, stressing the importance of stronger cultural ties in the current circumstances and in the “fight against enemies for independence and freedom”.
The Legend of Sepehr, also registered in Russia as Легенда о Сепере, is a family adventure produced by Mehdi Jafari Jozani and directed by Emad Rahmani and Mehrdad Mehrabi.
It follows Sepehr, a brave Iranian teenager who sets out on a heroic journey to save his family and homeland.
The release marks another step for Iranian children’s animation in the Russian market after Dolphin Boy. A Russian trailer for the film has also been released on Kinopoisk.