Several Iranian historical films and TV series have used the town as their location set. The exterior decoration of the structures and locations imitates that of the original ones using extant pictures. It comprises various state and historic buildings streets, and places similar to more than 100 years ago decorated by Italian decorators, particularly Gianni Cortina. Covering an area of 10 hectares, the complex was established in 1971 by the late director Ali Hatami, partially simulating old Tehran. The series was shot in Ghazali Cinematic Town in the western part of Tehran. Shahrzad is in a dilemma as she has to choose to stay with Farhad, whom she loves or submit to a forced marriage with a total stranger. Meanwhile Bozorg Agha, a man of wealth and power who leads a mafia-like syndicate and for whom Shahrzad’s father works, chooses her to marry his son Ghobad, as a second wife. On the day of the 1953 coup d’état (August 19), which overthrew the democratically elected Mosaddegh, orchestrated by the UK and the US, Shahrzad leaves home to meet Farhad, quite unaware of their destiny. The story is about university students Shahrzad and Farhad who fall in love.

The events unfold in Tehran in the early 1950s after the nationalization of Iran’s oil industry by the then prime minister Mohammad Mosaddegh. Rousta was in Cologne in 1992 when she acted in the film ‘From Karkheh to Rhine’ directed by Ibrahim Hatamikia.Ī romance-crime melodrama, ‘Shahrzad’ is a love story narrated in a historical setting. Prior to the ceremony, on a suggestion by Teymourian, the cast as well as the guests threw flowers in the Rhine River to pay tribute to the late actress Homa Rousta who passed away on September 26. “We plan to find new markets for our local cultural productions which have not been officially released outside the borders,” Emami said. It was the first time that a red carpet was rolled out for an Iranian TV series in a foreign country. Germany’s international broadcaster Deutsche Welle conducted an interview with the cast and crew before the screening. Actors Mohamadreza Golzar, Masoud Rayegan and Roya Teymourian were honorary guests.

Shahrzad series 12