AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): Leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, Sheikh Zakzaky issued the following condolence message on demise of Nader Talebzadeh:
We belong to Allah and to Him we shall return
We received the news of the untimely departure of renowned Iranian film director late Nader Talebzadeh with deep sorrow.
His departure is a great loss to the circle of Iranian art and literature, particularly to the religious and revolutionary artists.
We express our heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family of this honorable artist, the leader Ayatollah Imam Khamenei (H) and the entire Iranian nation.
Nader Talebzadeh lived a pure and dignified life.
We ask Allah (SWT) to bestow paradise and His mercy on him.
Nader Talebzadeh, a renowned filmmaker and TV producer who became famous as a symbol of revolutionary programs and events over the past two decades, passed away on Friday at the age of 69.
Talebzadeh was the president of the Ammar Popular Film Festival, which he co-founded along with several Iranian revolutionary figures. He also was a co-founder of Ofoq, IRIB’s channel for documentary cinema, and worked as a host and TV producer presenting programs on political issues, media and films.
He was born into a military family whose father was a high-ranking officer during the reign of Mohammad Reza Shah, the last monarch of Iran. After finishing his high school education he left Iran to study English literature in the United States of America. He received a degree in filmmaking at Columbia University in New York City. After the victory of the Islamic Revolution in 1979, he returned to Iran and started his film career with the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB).
In the early days of the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war, he joined the Iranian troops on the frontlines to make documentaries for IRIB. As a documentarian, he also went to the 1990s Balkan Wars, and his films are preserved in IRIB’s archives.
Speaking on a TV program, Talebzadeh once said that he had survived a “biological terrorism” attempt during the Arbaeen gathering in 2016. He said that his suitcase was confiscated by some armed men in Najaf. The suitcase was sent back to him in Karbala a few days later, but after handling it, he began to suffer from asthma and continued to suffer from insomnia.
Talebzadeh’s death came as a shock, triggering a flood of messages of condolences from his friends and officials, including filmmaker Ebrahim Hatamikia and President Ebrahim Raisi.
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