Filming Funeral Ceremony of Martyrs of 10th of Dey 1357

Translated by M.B. Khoshnevisan

2025-5-12

Two or three days later, it was announced that the martyrs of the 10th of Dey (December 31, 1978) would be taken to "Behesht Reza" cemetery for burial. During such times, the bodies were usually brought from the beginning of Tehran Avenue to Barq Square or "Zed" where they would then be loaded into private cars and driven to Behesht Reza for the funeral. It was a sight to behold! As we gazed at the road (which may now be captured in some photos and videos), as far as the eye could see, pickup trucks, motorbikes, and trucks filled with people lined the streets. Especially when there were multiple bodies, the road would be packed with blue Nissan pickup trucks, each carrying a person holding a picture of a martyr, all chanting slogans together in the cold weather. On the day of the funeral for the martyrs of 10^th of Dey, knowing it would be very crowded, I arrived early at Behesht Reza cemetery to film the arrival of the bodies. When I got there, it wasn't very quiet, but the main crowd had yet to arrive, and people were still bringing in the bodies. Eventually, the cars carrying the bodies arrived, and the cemetery was engulfed in chaos. Each time a body arrived, people would lift it from the front door and carry it in. The crowd was so thick that the coffins seemed to float on people's fingertips as they were carried in. Everyone wanted to somehow touch the martyrs. As more bodies arrived, groups of people would beat their chests in front of each coffin, chanting "O Hussein O Hussein" as they made their way to the mortuary.

Before the crowd arrived, I went to the bathhouse and sat on the edge of a short wall in the hall, ready to film as the crowd entered. I was the only cameraman present. From my vantage point, I could see outside through the window of the building. Some families of the martyrs were outside the bathhouse, crying and making noise as they brought their loved ones in to be washed. The hall quickly filled up, and the pressure of the crowd made it difficult for anyone to move. Despite attempts to stop them, those around the martyrs insisted on accompanying them into the bathhouse to witness the washing process. Out of religious respect, I refrained from filming the washing of the bodies, focusing instead on capturing the moments from when the martyrs entered the bathhouse until they changed into their burial clothes. After filming several bodies in this manner, I hurried to the pre-dug graves and recorded the burial of one or two bodies, capturing the solemn moments as they were laid to rest. That day, my goal was to showcase the grandeur of the martyrs' funerals through my films, highlighting the fervor with which they were brought to Behesht Reza and laid to rest.

Source: Revolution of Colors, Oral Memoirs of Alireza Khaleghi, edited by Hassan Soltani, Qom, Supreme Leader's Representative Institution in Universities, Islamic Revolution Cultural Front, 1394 (2015), pp. 140-141.