Ahmad Mahmoud; A Noble Novelist
Posted by By ifvc at 23 March, at 16 : 17 PM Print
Director, Producer & Editor: Bahman Maghsoudlou
Executive Producer: Bijan Maghsoudlou
Associate Producer: Behrouz Maghsoudlou
Camera: Shahriar Assadi
with:Farhang Farrahi, Javad Mojabi, Abass Pahlavan, Mohammad-Ali Sepanlou & Ebrahim Younesi
Color, 59 min., 2004
Ahmad Mahmoud was born on December 25, 1931 in Ahwaz. In his youth he worked as a day laborer, driver, construction worker and suffered imprisonment for leftist political views and oppositionist activities. His first story appeared in Omid-e Iran magazine, and in 1959 Mahmoud began publishing collections of stories with Mul (The Paramour).
Other collections followed: Darya Hanuz Aram Ast (The Sea Is Still Calm) 1960, Bihudegi (Uselessness) 1962, Za’eri Zir-e Baran (A Pilgrim In The Rain) 1968, Pesarak-e Boumi (The Little Native Boy) 1971, and Gharibeh’ha (The Strangers) 1972. Modern Persian Short Stories (1980) features a translation of his 1969 story “Az Deltangi” (On Homesickness) from A Pilgrim In The Rain. Hamsayeha (The Neighbors) appeared in 1974 and gave him immediate status as a novelist.
Dastan-e Yek Shahr (Story Of One City) was published in 1981. Zamin-e Sukhteh (The Scorched Earth) was published in the spring of 1982 in a limited 11,000 copies, with a second printing a year later of 22,000 copies. The three novels are a continuing saga set in Khuzistan during three important periods: The days of nationalization of oil in 1951, the aftermath of the coup d’etat which brought the Shah back to the throne in late August 1953, and Iraq’s invasion of Iran in 1980.
In early 1990s Mahmoud published two collections of short stories: Didar (Visiting) 1990, Qesseh-ye Ashna (Familiar Tale) 1991, Az Mosafer Ta Tabkhal (From Passenger To Cold Sore) 1992, Madare-h Sefr Darejeh (Zero Degree Latitude) 1993, Adam-e Zendeh (The Live Human) 1997, and Derakht-e Anjir-e Ma’abed (The Fig Tree Of The Temples) 2000.
-Tehran, October 4, 2002, Ahmad Mahmoud died of respiratory failure.
Ahmad Mahmoud: A Noble Novelist is now available on DVD from Pathfinder Pictures. As a special feature, historic short documentary film Life in Fog is also included. It can be ordered from Amazon, Netflix, direct from IFVC.com or at any of your finer video outlets.
The film was screened twice in late 2007, first at the University of North Carolina on September 15 at an event sponsored by the Iranian Culture Society of North Carolina and the Persian Culture Society, and second at Wien Technical University on November 2 at an event sponsored by the Iranian Cultural Society of Austria. Producer/director Bahman Maghsoudlou was in attendance at both.
Another screening took place at the Parya Foundation in Toronto on May 17, 2008 at an event sponsored by Shahrvand Magazine and dedicated to producer Behrouz Maghsoudlou, who passed away a month earlier. Mr. Hassan Zerrehi, Shahrvand’s editor-in-chief, hosted the event and introduced producer/director Maghsoudlou, who gave a talk on the importance of imagery in Iranian culture and then answered questions.
The film was also screened at three successive events in Sweden from October 31 to November 2. Audiences at the Folkets Hus Center in Hammarkullen, the Iranian Swedish Center in Malmo, and Kanune Film in Stockholm were treated to a program that also included one of producer/director Bahman Maghsoudlou’s other films, Ardeshir Mohasses & His Caricatures. Maghsoudlou also spoke and answered questions at all three events.
