ManotoTV(Subtitled)
This documentary narrates the process of transporting the body of Reza Shah Pahlavi, the founder of modern Iran, from his place of exile to his return to his homeland.
Reza Shah died in August 1944, during his exile in Johannesburg, South Africa. At that time, Iran was occupied by Allied forces and it was not possible to transport his body to the country. For this reason, his body was transferred to Cairo in November of that year and was temporarily kept there.
In May 1949, by order of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, his son and successor, it was decided to return the body of the founder of modern Iran to his homeland. Reza Shah’s coffin left Cairo and, after a short stop in Saudi Arabia, religious ceremonies were held for him in Medina and Mecca. On May 4 of that year, the coffin entered Ahvaz and from there continued its journey to Tehran on a special train that had been prepared for this transfer. Along the way, people gathered at various stations to pay their respects to the former king.
This documentary shows for the first time complete and rare images of this historic event; from the coffin’s departure from Cairo and its entry into Iranian territory, to the train carrying Reza Shah’s body from Ahvaz to Tehran and the magnificent funeral ceremony in the capital.
In the final section, the viewer witnesses the formal and orderly funeral ceremony, which was held in the presence of high-ranking officials, military forces and a large crowd of people. Reza Shah’s body was buried in his tomb next to the shrine of Shah Abdolazim Hassani in the city of Rey.
This work is an accurate representation of the final farewell of the founder of modern Iran, a visual narrative of the return of a king who changed the course of Iran with fundamental reforms, modernization of the country’s structure and the establishment of a new order, and who, thanks to the efforts of his son, Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, rested in his homeland after many years of absence.
