About the Film

The documentary ‘In Search of Illumination’ is based on a book of the same name which is Abdorrahim Jafari’s memoir. It was researched and produced in just over 3 years. The film is about one of Iran’s biggest and most influential publication institutions, Amirkabir, founded by Abdorrahim Safavi in Tehran’s Nasser Khosro Street in 1949.

Abdorrahim Jafari (born on November 4, 1919-Died on October 3, 2015) was born in a poor family in the Bazaar neighbourhood of Tehran. He began working as a labourer in a print factory at the age of 12. Despite the hardships, he always focused on proving himself to the world. In his younger days, he worked at the Scientific Print Factory and gained a lot of experience in production and publication of books. In November 1949, at the age of 30, he inaugurated the Amirkabir Publication Institute. Apart from Abdorrahim Jafari’s strong will, the fact that he enjoyed the company of Morteza Keivan and Monir Jazni, and the political situation of the time all played a role in the establishment of this institute.

From then on, the Amirkabir Publication Institute and its sub-branches such as Gardooneh Tarikh, Parastoo Books, and Jibi Books, published about 2800 titles in Jafari’s 30-year tenure as manager; books in the fields of literature, history, social sciences, philosophy and art, written by pioneering writers, philosophers, researchers, poets, and translators of the time; the likes of Badiozzamān Foroozānfar, Mohammad Moein, Ebrāhim Pourdāvood, Saeid Nafissi, Mohammad Taghi Bahār, Ali Dāshti, Parviz Nātel Khānlari, Zabihollāh Safā, Mojtabā Minovi, Gholāmrezā Rashid Yāsemi, Yahyā Mahdavi, Abdolhossein Zarrinkoub, Abbās Zaryāb, Ehsān Narāghi, Mohammad-Ali Jamālzādeh, Bozorg Alavi, Ahmad Arām, Ebrāhim Younesi, Esmāil Rāeen, Mohammad Jafar Mahjoub, Shojāeddin Shafā, Mortezā Keyvān, Iraj Afshār, Raby Moshfegh Hamadāni, Fereydun Adamiyat, Abolghāsem Anjavi Shirāzi, Mahmoud Tafazoli, Mohammad Ebrāhim Bāstāni Pārizi, Hossein Makki, Amir-Hossein Aryānpour, Zabihollāh Mansouri, Karim Keshāvarz, Monir Jazani, Forugh Farrokhzad, Gholam-Hossein Sa’edi, Sādegh Hedāyat, Amir Hushang Ebtehāj, Ahmad Shāmlou, Nāder Nāderpour, Rahi Mo’ayeri, Hamid Mosadegh, Fereydoon Kār, Shāhrokh Meskoub, Bahman Mohassess, Simin Dāneshvar, Jalāl Āl-e-Ahmad, Esmāil Fassih, Bahman Farzaneh, Mehdi Sahabi, Siavash Kasrai, Nosrat Rahmani, Fereydoon Tonekāboni, Saeed Soltāmpour etc.

The growth of Amirkabir Institute continued till 1979, especially in the 1970s. Despite being constantly under the knife of governmental censorship, it was going to become the most pioneering publication institute in the Middle East and maybe Asia. This prosperity coincided with the 1979 Revolution in Iran and shortly after, Amirkabir Institute was confiscated. Abdorrahim was interviewed by the new government in 1979 and was sent to prison for a while. Eventually all his assets were confiscated by revolutionary institutions at the time. Years later, the issue was raised again when he sued the government to get his assets back. But the courts did not grant him his wish, and his publication house was never returned to him. He lived his final years in forced retirement and kept fighting till the end to get his institution back.

Amirkabir was confiscated, but it has lived on as an influential cultural current, because many other Iranian publishers began to work having been inspired by Amirkabir. The most evident example of such publishers is “Nashre No”. Reza Jafari, son of Abdorrahim, is currently manager and owner of ‘Nashre No’, which is considered one of Iran’s most credible publication houses. He worked along his father in the Amirkabir Institution before the confiscation and the most innovative and effective books of Amirkabir were due to his efforts and vision.

Today, among all Iranians, not least book lovers, Amirkabir is still considered a current-making publication house that best represents Iranian culture.