Iranian Film “Muhammad (PBUH)” to Open Montreal Film Festival
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The 39th edition of Montreal World Film Festival (MWFF) has chosen the Iranian film “Muhammad (PBUH)” directed by Oscar-nominated Majid Majidi as its opening film.
The film is scheduled to be screened as the opening film of the Montreal Film Festival this year, which is due to start on August 27 and will last until September 7, 2015 in Montreal, Canada.
The MWFF is the only competitive Film Festival in North America recognized by the FIAPF (International Federation of Film Producers Associations).
It had been announced previously that the movie Muhammad (PBUH), the first part of Iran’s big-budget trilogy on the life of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), will premiere in cinemas across the country on August 26.
A number of internationally-acclaimed professionals, including Academy Award winning visual effects supervisor and filmmaker Scott E. Anderson, three-time Oscar-winning Italian director of photography Vittorio Storaro and renowned Croat production designer Milijen Kreka Kljakovic collaborated in making the film.
Academy Award-winning Indian music composer Allah-Rakha Rahman has written music for the movie.
According to the MWFF’s website, the film does not depict Muhammad [PBUH] himself but his world, the pagan age with all its tyranny and oppression as seen through the eyes of young Muhammad [PBUH] from birth to the age of 13.
Majid Majidi is an internationally and critically acclaimed Iranian film director, film producer, and screen writer whose films have touched on many themes and genres and has won many international awards.
His acclaimed film, Children of Heaven (1997), was the first Iranian film nominated for an Academy Award (Best Foreign Language Film) in 1999.
Majidi's 1999 film 'The Color of Paradise' was chosen one of the best 10 films of the year in the US in 2000.