IRAN - Journey to the unknown Orient
SCREENPLAY Peter Thomsen
DIRECTOR Wolfgang Thaler
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY Wolfgang Thaler
SOUND ENGINEER Joe Knauer, Attila Boa
MUSIC mohammad-Reza Aligholi
EDITOR Walter Christen
PRODUCTION MANAGER Peter Thomsen
TECHNICAL DATA Digi Beta * 16:9 * 52 and 45 min
PRODUCED 2000 - 2003
WEGA Film in Coproduction with DEGA-Film (Tehran), ORF (Austrian Broadcasting Station), DEFC (Tehran) and the Austrian Ministry of Education
Synopsis
In the 1920s and 1930s, an Austrian married couple, the Gabriels, studied the desert regions of Persia. They were the first Europeans to cross the southern Lut, one of the hottest deserts on Earth. Their books and cartographical drawings provided vital information for the further exploration of Iranian deserts.
The film includes re-enacted scenes of the two explorers´ dangerous journeys. It also addresses how life is today for the inhabitants of the desert and their archaic way of life in these remote and arid areas.
For the first time since 1980, it was possible for a western television crew to travel to the Islamic Republic and to film in the rough deserts of central Iran.
