The first-ever documentary film on TAQ KASRA by Pejman Akbarzadeh will be premiered at SOAS, University of London, on 1 February 2018. (INFORMATION)
The ca. 3th-century Persian monument Taq Kasra, or Arch of Ctesiphon, is the world’s largest brick vault. The site is the most famous architectural site of Persian Empire during the Sassanian era (224 – 651 AD). Taq Kasra was gradually neglected after the Arab invasion of Persia (Iran) in the 7th-century AD.
TAQ KASRA in 2016
In view of the territorial changes, the arch ruins is now located outside Persia, close to the Iraqi capital Baghdad. It is not easy to visit the monument because of the strict security measures around its location. Taq Kasra is now located right beside the little town of Salman Pak. This name was taken from the name of Salman the Persian. He was a companion of the Islam’s prophet Mohammed and the first Persian who converted to Islam. Salman (born as Roozbeh) was the governor of Ctesiphon after the Arab conquest. He is buried there too.
At the moment the arch is under the protection of Iraqi forces. Iraq has not started the process to register Taq Kasra as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. However in the recent years the Iraqi Ministry of Culture has invited the Czech firm AVERS to restore the site.
Various objects have been discovered around Taq Kasra/Ctesiphon area, mostly in the late 1920s and early 1930s. The artefacts are now mostly kept at the State Museum of Berlin (Pergamonmuseum) and Metropolitan Art Museum in New York.
“Taq Kasra: Wonder of Architecture” is the first-ever documentary film on the world’s largest brick vault. The palace is a symbol of the Persian Empire in the Sasanian era (224-651 AD), when a major part of Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) was part of Persia.
(BBC Live Interview with Pejman Akbarzadeh following the world premiere of the film in London)
______________ Taq Kasra was in serious danger of ISIS attacks in 2014-2016 and this was the main motivation for documentary maker Pejman Akbarzadeh, based in the Netherlands, to travel to Iraq twice and film the arch before it was potentially destroyed.
Taq Kasra (Taq-i Kisra), also known as the Arch of Ctesiphon, in late antiquity was a royal Persian residence but since a few centuries ago, in view of geopolitical changes in the Near East, it is located in Iraqi territory, close to the capital city of Baghdad. It was neglected shortly after the Arab invasion of Persia [Iran] in the 7th century AD but remained a source of inspiration for archaeologists, poets and other travellers.
“Taq Kasra: Wonder of Architecture” explores the history and architecture of this iconic monument with respected archaeologists and scholars from around the world.
The documentary also portrays the huge impact of war and ideological policies on the identity of this ancient arch.
The following scholars, architects and officials have been interviewed in the film:
(in order of appearance)
Hossein Amanat, Persian-Canadian architect
Prof. EdKeall (Former director of Royal Ontario Museum’s Near Eastern Department) Prof. Touraj Daryaee (Director of Center for Persian Studies, University of California) Dr. Ute Franke (State Museums of Berlin)
Dr. Vesta Sarkhosh-Curtis (British Museum) Dr. Ali Mozaffari (Australian Research Council, Deakin Univ.) Dr. Mahmoud Mullakhalaf (Iraqi Ambassador to UNESCO) Dr. Qais Huseen Rasheed (Head of Iraqi State Board of Antiquities) Dr. Miroslav Zeman (ProjektyZeman, Prague) Prof. Robert Hillenbrand (University of Edinburgh)
The documentary maker Pejman Akbarzadeh (right) with Iraqi villagers during making the Taq Kasra documentary, April 2017
World Premiere of “Taq Kasra: Wonder of Architecture”, SOAS, University of London
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR Pejman Akbarzadeh (b. 1980, Shiraz) is a documentary maker, journalist, and pianist, based in the Netherlands. His reference book on the 20th-century composers and conductors of Persia (Iran), written when he was just 18, has been used as a source for academic publications including the Encyclopaedia Iranica. He has also performed Persian piano recitals in various European venues such as Amsterdam Royal Concertgebouw.
Pejman began working as a journalist while still in Tehran. Following a rise in state oppression of the press, he moved to the Netherlands in 2006 and worked with the Persian-language Radio Zamaneh as a senior producer for eight years. He has also contributed to several other media outlets including BBC and VOA.
In 2009 Pejman started a new phase of his career. Recognising the wider catchment of visual media over literature, that same year he completed his first documentary, the feature-length film Hayedeh: Legendary Persian Diva. The film was screened at festivals in both Europe and the United States and nominated for Best Documentary at the Noor Iranian Film Festival in Los Angeles.
“Taq Kasra: Wonder of Architecture” (2018) is Pejman Akbarzadeh’s second documentary film, for which he traveled to Iraq twice, despite the lurking presence of ISIL nearby. The film premiered at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London (SOAS) in February 2018 and subsequently screened at various international conferences, museums and universities including the Smithsonian Institution’s Freer|Sackler Gallery in Washington DC, Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Yale University, the 8th Biennial Convention of the Association for the Study of the Persianate Societies in Tbilisi and the 12th Conference of the Iranian Studies Association at UC Irvine. More: www.PejmanAkbarzadeh.com
“TAQ KASRA” WORLD PREMIERE @ SOAS, University of London 1 February 2018
ASPS Conference, Ilia State University
Tbilisi 18 March 2018
US Premiere: Archaeology Museum of the University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia 21 & 22 April 2018
12th Biennial Iranian Studies Conference: University of California Irvine 15 August 2018
Smithsonian Institution/Freer|Sackler Washington DC 15 September 2018 *** Yale University’s MacMillan Center for Middle Eastern Studies New Haven 27 September 2018
