Storyline
Bonasan, the genie travels
from the future to this day to share his life story with Sarah, a child
hospitalized for being infected with COVID19. He tells her in her sleep that people
in the future have exiled him from earth, punishing him for his malicious
action, though he thinks he has only been doing what his masters have asked him
to do. An angle responds to his plea for a second chance, but his chance is
conditional. Bonasan has to go to Asakura, a musician and composer in Tokyo and
convince him to create a music track that brings life and hope, inspired by the
lives of three activists; Dr. Shizuku Tsuya from Japan, Parviz Parastoui from Iran
and Professor Gerhard Freinlinger from Austria. Bonasan has no choice but to
accept and this is the beginning of his troubles. Humankind’s sorrowful past can
be a trap, destroying the present and future for some people. However, there
exist some heroes who can transform the past tragedies to means for creating a
better future. The Miracle of Bonasan aims to illustrate this journey from this
nightmare to a dream.
Background
Humankind’s sorrowful past
events such as wars and social harms can be a trap, destroying the present and
future lives. However, there exist some heroes who can transform the past tragedies
to means for creating a better future. The Miracle of Bonasan aims to illustrate
this journey from this nightmare to a dream.
Dr. Shizuku Tsuya, the
head of the Japanese NPC, MOCT has
been active in humanitarian affairs for many years; Working closely with Tehran Peace Museum in holding
scientific and cultural exchange programs is one of them. The seed idea of this
movie was the initiative of Habib Ahmadzadeh, the director of the movie to
appreciate these efforts. After discussing the idea with Dr. Tsuya, she put
forward three conditions which made the task very difficult: She should not be
the main character, it should not be a documentary, and it should encourage
people to take action. These conditions were realized only through heartening
dedication of the production team.
Production
The filming of this movie
started 15 years ago as mere recording of events, which archives the trips of
MOCT NPO teams, headed by Dr. Tsuya to Iran as well as the trips by Iranian
veterans and artists to Japan as a part of the scientific and cultural exchanges
with the Tehran Peace Museum. The action by Professor Gerhard Freilinger was
added through selfless efforts of Mr. Mostafa Razzagh Karimi, the director of
the “Memories for All Seasons” documentary. Parviz Parastoui, the Iranian actor
joined the team since he was accompanying peace activists and civil actors.
The genie and Asakura
were added to the script after the production started. Bonasan the genie aimed
to boost morale of the children who were in the hospitals during the COVID19
pandemic. Asakura made connecting all the other characters in one storyline possible.
The editing then, took more than 4 years.
The miracle of Bonasan was
produced with the minimum budget. It came to fruit only through the hard work
and dedication of a team that set aside their personal priorities to narrate
the story of people from three corners of the world (Far East, Middle East and
West) only to put aside all their differences and together, create the music of
life and hope.
What is the miracle,
created by our heroes? We invite you to watch to movie to find out.
To request a (free)
screening, please click here.
Screenings
The Miracle of Bonasan
was officially unveiled on 22 February 2023 in an event in Parke Shahr in
Tehran, with the presence of guests from MOCT and chemical weapons survivors
and other volunteers of the Tehran Peace Museum among others. This movie has
also been one of the movies screened during the 10th Iran- Hiroshima
Friendship Film Festival (Hiroshima) and Iranian Movies Week (Tokyo) in August
2023. The unfinalized version of the movie, titled “The Legend of A Thousand
and One Days” and the final version as the Miracle of Bonasan have been shown in
other countries and cities.
To see the full list of
the screenings, please click here.
Cast and Crew
The primary recordings,
as journaling the events, was done during many years by prominent Iranian videographers.
After the production began with Habib Ahmadzadeh as the director and producer,
who was the coordinator of the art teams travelling to Japan during these exchange
programs, Zeynab Ahmadzadeh joined the team as the screenwriter. The movie was
first edited by Majid Shattizade and later by Mehrdad Afrasiabi.
To see the full list of
cast and crew, please click here.