Doc depicts happy end to story on ISIS attack in Tehran

TEHRAN.(Iranart) – Iranian photographer and filmmaker Satiar Emami has made a documentary titled “A Caption for a Photo” that spotlights a happy ending to the bitter story of Emad Esmaeilnejad, a two-year-old boy who survived the ISIS attack on the Iranian parliament on June 7, 2017.

The idea to make the documentary came into Emami’s head after he saw a photo by Omid Vahabzadeh of the terrorist attack published a few minutes after the incident, he said in a press release published by the Documentary and Experimental Film Center (DEFC) on Saturday.

The photo showed the Iranian security forces evacuating Emad from a window of the parliament.

Emad was taken to the parliament by his mother who sought a letter of recommendation from an MP to help her obtain official support for the treatment of her son who is suffering from MPS II, a rare disease that usually affects only boys so that their bodies cannot break down a type of sugar that builds bones, skin, tendons and other tissue.

The documentary is composed of three chapters, in the first of which photojournalists recount how the security team came to the rescue of Emad and his mother.

The second chapter is about Emad’s family, his illness and how they tackle the problem. The final chapter is dedicated to accounts by some staff members of parliament of how Emad and his mother escaped from danger.

The incident put a happy ending on the Emad story as Iranian press media turned the spotlight on Emad and his illness. As a result, Iran’s Health Ministry agreed to cover the costs for the treatment of Emad’s illness.

“A Caption for a Photo” is scheduled to be screened at the 11th Cinema Verite, Iran’s major international festival for documentary cinema that will be organized by the DEFC in Tehran from December 10 to 17.