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A tribute to some recently-deceased Iranian celebrities film producer Ali Moallem and actor Aref Lorestani

Ali Moallem, film producer, publisher and managing director and editor-in-chief of Donya-ye-Tasvir (Picture World) magazine passed away on Monday 13. marts 2017. He died of cardiac arrest in his office in Tehran at the age of 55.

A graduate of cinema, Moallem, 54, started Donya-ye-Tasvir magazine 25 years ago which soon became popular among film fans.



Besides his journalistic activities, he produced several films including ‘Hemlock’ (2000), ‘The River’s End’ (2004), ‘Marriage, Iranian Style’ (2006) and ‘Aal’ (2010). He also served as jury member in several local and international film festivals.

Moallem organized the 16th edition of ‘Hafez Celebration’, Iran’s only private ceremony to award the best of TV and cinema annually since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.



For years he strived to produce a film on Cyrus the Great (580-529 BC), king of Persia and the founder of the Achaemenid Empire. The script was written by Iranian screenwriter and filmmaker Masoud Jafari-Jozani who was set to direct the movie as well. However, their efforts did not bear fruit and a book on the film script was published last year.

Iranian comedian Aref Lorestani, the renowned TV actor , mostly known for his roles in Mehran Modiri’s comic series, died of cardiac arrest while asleep in his home on Saturday 15. april 2017 in Tehran at the age of 45.

Born in the western Kermanshah Province in 1972, Lorestani made his TV debut in 1999 with ‘Show 77’ directed by Modiri and continued appearing in his later series including ‘Man With Two Thousand Faces’ (2009), ‘Bitter Coffee’ (2010), ‘My Villa’ (2012), ‘I’m Just Kidding’ (2014) and ‘In the Margins’ (2015).

Lorestani also acted in the movies ‘Wedding Feast’, ‘The Choice’, ‘The Equation’ and ‘Mani and Neda’. In 2015, he staged a comedy play titled ‘Last Supper’ in Tehran.

This is the first death of an artist reported in the New Persian Year (started March 21). In the previous year, about 100 art and culture figures passed away, and among them were celebrities including filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami, actor Davoud Rashidi and painter/ illustrator Parviz Kalantari.

Actor Hassan Joharchi and film producer Ali Moallem died in February and March respectively.