The variety of narratives of a great event helps to understand it more comprehensively, and war is no exception. In the meantime, the Red Crescent, as an international humanitarian organization, has always emphasized on examining the human consequences of wars and recording its effects on the civilian population. In this regard, the program “Hilal Mehrabani” from Tehran network tries to depict the direct narrative of the aid workers present in the Ramadan war and record a corner of these less-said sacrifices. With this motivation, we talked to Mohsen Mohammadi, the producer of this program, to tell us why he chose this narrative form and the challenges of producing such a program.
The direct sound of war
Mohsen Mohammadi, the producer of Hilal Mehrabani program, told Jam Jam about the choice of direct narration in this program: Unlike many documentaries that use archival images and reconstruction scenes, in this program we went for first-person narration and the direct expression of the narrator. This decision had two reasons. First, many aid workers in the war were volunteers and had no financial or employment relationship with the government. Some of these aid workers were Iranians who came from other countries and it was possible to leave the country after some time. We wanted not to lose these human treasures and their direct narratives and to record their memories. Second, these loved ones were directly present in the war relief and had seen everything with their own eyes. It was difficult to find these narrators, but luckily we were able to do it.
Referring to the impact of the direct narrative on the audience, Mohammadi continued: scenes such as the missile hit or the moments when the rescuer informs a family that their daughter has been dismembered cannot be recreated at all. Even if we wanted to recreate these scenes, we could never convey the real feeling of war and bombing to the audience. The direct narration of the first-person narrators was the only way we could properly convey this atmosphere and feeling. In addition, during the production, we discovered films and documentaries that the first-person narrators themselves had and these works helped to present the narratives to the audience in the best possible way.
In response to a question about the role of the Ramadan war in television productions, this television producer said: I myself was in the media throughout the war and I dare to say that although a comprehensive narrative of this war has not yet been produced, be careful that the Vietnam war in America took many years to be able to narrate it in the way they wanted. At the same time, we have a short distance from the start of the war and we are just recovering these narratives. It is natural that we have not yet reached a stage where we can say that the work is finished, but this does not mean that we have not done enough. The national media has done its role well and Hilal Mehrabani has come to fill this narrative void.
Unexpected sacrifice
He added: Many programs and even field programs have shown the presence of rescuers in different formats, but we at Hilal Mehrabani decided to look at the story from the perspective of the Red Crescent. Because the Red Crescent was one of the organizations that took the most effort in the war and received the least thanks. In addition, these loved ones did not have any financial benefit from their work and they rushed to help their fellow citizens completely voluntarily. Therefore, from their point of view, the narration could present a new image of sacrifice.
Mohammadi emphasized that all the scenes of the program are documentary and explained: All the films shown in the program are documentaries. These images were either recorded with the cameras that the rescuers carried with them, or with the cameras that we sent to the area. We were able to establish a very direct connection between the narrative and the documentary. In Hilal Mehrabani, the rescuer is both the narrator and the main actor of the scene. This feature makes the audience feel that they are present in that scene and hear the narration from someone who has experienced it.
The producer of Hilal Mehrabani clarified about paying to the hidden layers of relief operations: from the very first production meetings, which were held in the presence of the director of the network and the director of the Islamic Culture and Education Group and friends of the Red Crescent, we were supposed to discuss all the big and small issues. If we censor and do not say anything, we have acted in the interest of America and Israel. Even the scenes where rescuers were unable to save anyone or families whose loved ones were dismembered due to the severity of the attacks were narrated in the program. We have had operations that have literally failed.
That is, they could not save anyone. For example, the scenes where the rescuers arrived and saw five or six members of a family were martyred and they could not pull anyone out from under the rubble. These narratives are in the program, but the lack of success in rescue was not the reason for our failure, but because of the depth of the disaster and the enemy’s use of prohibited weapons.
He said about choosing a studio location instead of the actual operation space: Unlike common models that use walls and background images, we chose a classic studio with very beautiful lighting. In the decor, we used accessories related to Minab and Jang region. This choice helped convey the concepts and sense of war to the audience through the decor and create the necessary intimacy to communicate with the narrators. Really, if we were recording in a real location, maybe we wouldn’t be able to convey that sense of intimacy and companionship with the narrator. We tried to design a cultural and at the same time operational space that has both originality and can convey concepts through decor.
The other face of the Red Crescent
In response to a question about the introduction of the identity of aid workers and the connection of generations, Mohammadi noted: The public mentality of the Red Crescent is formed mostly for natural disasters and accidents. Many of today’s audiences know the Red Crescent with its daily missions such as floods, earthquakes and road accidents, but in this program we tried to portray an image of the war aid workers of the 60s; Those who rushed to the aid of their countrymen in the Ramadan war without any expectations and completely voluntarily. The rescuer who did not go home for more than 40 days and nights, worked with an identity plate and sought to save people in a situation where there was a possibility of another attack at any moment.
The producer of Hilal Mehrabani added: the story of these rescuers can be a motivational reference for today’s generation who are active in volunteering and philanthropy. We tried to show this 40-year-old bond with objective and documented narratives so that the young audience understands that the concept of sacrifice and serving the people is not specific to a specific time and place and can be repeated in any generation. This program wants to say that the spirit of relief and helping one’s fellow man is a stable value that continues from those days until today and can be a model for future generations.
Referring to the program’s feedback, he completed: Fortunately, the feedback we received from the young audience shows that these narratives were able to communicate with them. Many of them have stated that they have not had an accurate picture of the human dimensions of this war and the direct narration of the aid workers has been influential for them. These feedbacks show that the path we chose was the right one. We tried to show that in the school of Ashura, serving the people in the most difficult conditions is not an organizational task but an attitude of faith, and Red Crescent rescuers in the Ramadan war were an example of this attitude.
