Morteza Shabani, the producer of the documentary “Jamal,” believes that this documentary fills the void of a lasting work about martyr Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis in the history of resistance cinema.
The documentary “Jamal,” directed by Mohammad Habibi Mansour and produced by Morteza Shabani, as one of the outstanding works in the field of resistance documentaries, presents a profound and influential narrative of the life and struggles of martyr Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the commander of the Popular Mobilization Forces and a close friend of martyr Qassem Soleimani. This documentary, which won the “Soldier of the Homeland” award at the Haghighat Cinema Festival, has also been submitted to the International Resistance Film Festival.
Morteza Shabani, the producer of the documentary “Jamal,” said in an interview with the website of the International Resistance Film Festival about the necessity of making this work: “Despite the numerous documentaries that have been made about martyr Soleimani, we felt that there was a void of a lasting work about martyr Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis in the history of resistance cinema. The documentary “Jamal” was made with the aim of filling this void and introducing this prominent figure of the resistance. This documentary is not only a story about Abu Mahdi’s life, but also depicts part of the common history of the Iranian and Iraqi resistance.”
According to Mr. Shabani, this documentary was produced in Arabic with Persian subtitles and has been received with great acclaim in Iraq.
The documentary producer, Jamal, added: “The screening of the documentary “Jamal” in Iraq was an important event. The Iraqi people welcomed this work, and many believed that this documentary was the second work to fill cinema halls in Iraq after the film “Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah” by Majid Majidi.”
It is worth noting that the documentary “Jamal” was recently broadcast on the One Sima network and has attracted the attention of resistance cinema lovers and those interested in the history of anti-colonial and resistance struggles in the region, and it has high hopes of winning one of the awards in the documentary section of the International Resistance Film Festival.
Martyr Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, whose real name was Jamal, is considered an influential figure in the resistance front in Iraq. He joined the fight against the Iraqi Baath regime at the age of 17, and after years of activity in Iraq and Kuwait, he came to Iran and continued his activities alongside Iraqi fighters based in Iran.
His acquaintance with martyr Qassem Soleimani during the occupation of Iraq by the United States marked a new chapter in their joint cooperation, which led to the formation of important operations against American forces and Takfiri groups such as ISIS.
According to the website of the International Resistance Film Festival, Morteza Shabani has participated in the International Resistance Film Festival this year, in addition to the documentary Jamal, with four other works: “The Teacher Who Became an Ambassador” about the life of martyr Hassan Irlu, the former Iranian ambassador to Yemen who was martyred in suspicious circumstances; “They” about the wives of ISIS victims in Iraq; “Blood, Henna, Gunpowder” about the bombing of a wedding in Afghanistan by the Americans; and “My House Under the Sky in the Neighborhood of the Moon” about the life of a Syrian family in a hospital in Aleppo.
