“The Last Days of Winter” crew honored

TEHRAN,Dec.27(MNA) -- The Art and Cultural Organization (ACO) of the Tehran Municipality has honored the crew of “The Last Days of Winter”, a docudrama series based on the life story of the 27-year-old Iranian commander Gholamhossein Afshordi, who was killed during the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war. “‘The Last Days of Winter’ was a very highly successful series,” ACO Director Amir Khorakian during a ceremony in Tehran on Tuesday. “Trust in young people has never resulted in a loss to us,” he added. Directed by Mohammad-Hossein Mahdavian, the 10-episode series was produced by a group of young cineastes who mostly spent their early childhood in war. It was broadcast from IRIB’s Channel 1 this year. About 50 percent of the series includes the records kept at the IRIB’s archive and the rest was shot by 16mm camera in black and white to recollect the days of war during the 1980s. Many educational centers were searched to select about 150 members of the cast, who are very similar to the original characters. “We tried to find actors who were not familiar to the viewers in order to make the story credible,” casting director Ebrahim Amini said in an interview. Mehdi Zaminpardaz has been acclaimed by critics for his portrayal of Afshordi. Amini starred as Mohsen Rezaii, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) commander during the war. The title of the series refers to a dialogue with Afshordi’s mother about the time of his birth. Afshordi was born and raised in Tehran. He studied in Tehran’s Marvi High School and gained admission to the University of Urmia in the agricultural animal breeding program in 1975. He joined the Islamic Revolution Committees, a militia group that was established after the victory of the Islamic revolution in 1979. Shortly afterwards, he left the organization and began a career in journalism in Jomhuri-e Eslami, an Iranian political newspaper associated with the Jomhuri-e Eslami Party which was established by the revolutionary leaders. He then joined the IRGC and due to his genius in military affairs, he soon became one of the important figures of the organization. IRGC former commander Rezaii selected the alias Hassan Baqeri for Afshordi after he was appointed to the IRGC Military Information Unit during the war. Many of Iran’s operations were organized based on the information his unit provided. He was killed by a mortar attack on January 29, 1983, while he was reconnoitering for the initial stage of Operation Wa al-Fajr. After his death, Afshordi was honored with the military officer rank of major general.