“Wake up Arezoo” is wake-up call about the Bam quake: director

FCF Director Ahmad Mir-Alaii, the Iranian Red Crescent Society director Abolhassan Faqih, as well as the actors and director were among the participants.

On December 26, 2003 at 5:26 am local time, the city of Bam was devastated by an earthquake which killed nearly 30,000 people and destroyed most of the Bam Citadel, which was the largest adobe structure in the world at the time.

“Wake up Arezoo” was made only a few days after the quake, the idea occurred to Ayyari’s mind while he was working on his TV series “Qarib’s Life”. The project was halted and he decided to portray the devastating event through his own lens.

“I did not make the film for public screening or an international festival. I only intended to make ‘Wake Up, Arezoo’ as a wake-up call for the officials in the earthquake zone who should have lost some sleep over it,” said director Ayyari.

“But of course, I need to apologize to the audience here for the unpleasant scenes in the movie,” he said addressing the viewers.

“In a country where an earthquake is likely occur at any moment, and these days there is much talk about the high probability of major earthquake striking Tehran, this film was made to draw the attention of the officials,” he added.

He then referred to the role of Rajabi in the film and said, “(actor) Mehran Rajabi always reminds one of comedy but in this movie you can see deep sorrow on his face as a result of the devastating environment,” he said.

Mir-Alaii next expressed his grief over the sad event and said that surely the difficult situation would bring positive effects.

“I agree the film is bitter pill to swallow, but officials must watch the film even if it makes them suffer a bit and feel uncomfortable,” said RCS director Abolhassan Faqih.

Actor Rajabi hopes the he would never again see an earthquake in the country although he knows this is impossible.

Photo: A poster for “Wake up Arezoo”