Zero Degree Turn

Zero Degree Turn or Zero Degree Latitude[1] (Persian: مدار صفر درجه Madâr-e sefr darajeh) is a 2007 television series, made through the cooperation of Iran, Hungary, France, and Lebanon. The program was one of the most expensive and elaborate ever produced by Iran and attracted a large audience there.[2] It is inspired by a real-life story about Iranian diplomat Abdol Hossein Sardari, who saved Jews in 1940s Paris during the Nazi Occupation by giving out Iranian passports and allowing them refuge in the Iranian Embassy.[3] Although it has been noted that neither character names nor the story are close to Sardari's story.[4]

Zero Degree Turn
Shahab Hosseini
مدار صفر درجه
Created byHassan Fathi
StarringShahab Hosseini
Nathalie Matti
Mostafa Abdollahi
Iraj Rad
Laya Zanganeh
Roya Teymourian
Masoud Rayegan
Pierre Dagher
Ateneh Faghih Nasiri
Payam Dehkordi
Rahim Noroozi
Farrokh Nemati
Esmail Shangaleh
Fadi Edward
Hasmiq Taschgian
Ahmad Saatchian
Ali Ghorban Zadeh
Kiumars Malekmotei
Gyula Mesterházy
Álmos Szalay
Music byAlireza Ghorbani
Ending themeWhen I Fell in Love (Vaghti Ke Man Ashegh Shodam)
Country of originIran
Hungary
France
Lebanon
Original languagesPersian
French
German
No. of episodes30
Production
Executive producerHassan Beshkoufeh
CinematographyMorteza Poursamadi
Running timeEach episode approximately 50 minutes
Release
Original networkChannel 1 (Iran)
Original releaseApril 23, 2007 (2007-04-23) –
November 2007 (2007-11)

Plot

Set in the time of the Second World War, Madare Sefr Darajeh follows the life of an Iranian student named Habib Parsa (Shahab Hosseini) who travels to Paris to study. There Habib meets a French Jewish woman named Sara Astrok, a student at the same university. At first antagonistic toward one another, Habib and Sarah eventually fall in love. They run into many problems, including persecution by the Nazis and by Sarah's Zionist uncle, but are united in the end.[2]

Cast

Opinions

The government financed film has been widely cited as an effort by the government to demonstrate its positions in regards to the difference between Jews and Zionists, encompassing sympathy for the Jewish people (including an orthodox view of the Holocaust) while remaining hostile to Zionism.[5]

The director of the series, Hassan Fathi, said about it, "I decided to produce this series in 2002, and in those days the Holocaust was not an issue. Even if one single Jew is killed in German camps, the world should be ashamed. By the same token, if a single Palestinian dies, the world should be ashamed. I sympathize with the Jewish victims of World War II, to the same extent with women and children victims of the war in Palestine."[2]

The TV series won the praise and support of Iran's Jewish Association, an independent body that safeguards the community's culture and heritage. The association has criticized Mr. Ahmadinejad's comments about the Holocaust but has praised Mr. Fatthi's show.[5]

DVD release

The series was retitled Zero Point Orbit for its 2007 release by Bita Film, Tarzana, California. The Persian title is unchanged. The DVDs include neither English nor Persian subtitles.

English dub

The series has an English dub that was recorded in Hong Kong by Red Angel Media.[6]

References
  1. IRIB Media Trade
  2. In hit Iranian TV drama, Holocaust no 'myth'
  3. Stephen Spector Professor of English Stony Brook University Evangelicals and Israel : The Story of American Christian Zionism 2008 page 100 "In the fall of 2007, they were glued to their television sets every Monday night to watch the wildly popular "Zero Degree Turn," which recounted the story of an Iranian-Palestinian Muslim who saved a French Jewish woman and her family ..."
  4. In the Lion's Shadow: The Iranian Schindler and his Homeland in the Second World War
  5. Fassihi, Farnaz (September 7, 2007). "Iran's Unlikely TV Hit". The Wall Street Journal: B1. Retrieved September 17, 2007.
  6. "Red Angel Media". Archived from the original on 2016-02-05. Retrieved 2016-01-17.
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