Martyr Morteza Avini to be commemorated today

TEHRAN,April 9(MNA) -- Tehran’s Art Bureau will host an event today commemorating the 19th anniversary of the death of documentary filmmaker martyr Morteza Avini. Avini’s family is invited to the ceremony where Art Bureau Director Mohsen Momeni-Sharif will pay tribute to them. Iranian vocalist Alireza Eftekhari is also expected to attend and sing a piece with the central theme of the Islamic Awakening, the Persian service of MNA reported on Sunday. Avini was martyred by a landmine in 1993 during his last trip to the former Iran-Iraq war zone in southwestern Iran while making a documentary about soldiers who were still listed as missing in action. Iran’s Farabi Cinematic Foundation director, Ahmad Miralaii, accompanied by several officials, gathered at the tomb of Avini and paid tribute to the martyr. The bureau has also arranged several other programs for the day where filmmaker Shahriar Bahrani, author Mojtaba Rahmandust, and poet and critic Yusefali Mirshakkak will be making speeches on the art of the Islamic Revolution. An exhibition of artworks with the theme of the art of the Islamic Revolution will also open where veterans Habib Sadeqi, Ali Vazirian, Naser Palangi and Kazem Chalipa will display their works. Avini became famous for “The Narration of Triumph” and was considered a “master of martyred writers” by his colleagues and war veterans due to the fervent narrations he wrote for his documentaries. Avini directed the 10-part series “A City in the Sky”, “With the Kheibar Battalion”, “Spell or Miracle” and several other films. He published many essays and articles, all of which are held in high esteem throughout Iran.