Veteran comedian and actor Akbar Abdi was honored with a Golden Simorgh at this most recent Fajr Film Festival, but there’s yet no sign of an impending retirement for the “man with a thousand faces of Iranian cinema.” Recently, some photographs were circulated by Mehr News and Tehran Times which presented Abdi in a makeup-laden, legitimately frightening apparent interpretation of Donald Trump.
These images are purportedly related to director Hossein Qana’at’s upcoming film Lasagna, of which very little in the way of production details have been revealed. Qana’at is primarily known for a film he directed over ten years ago, Negin and Me Dot Com, another comedy. According to reports, Abdi will be playing the lead in the new film.
While little is known of Lasagna at this point, Mehr News obtained multiple images from makeup artist Abdullah Eskandari’s’s Instagram, where they were shared early last week; as of this writing, however, only one related image appears to be left on the account. Additionally, Tehran Times spoke with Eskandari, who stated that, “…makeup was cancelled for the character.” It is unclear whether this means that the role has been cut, or if this characterization is still being reworked for inclusion.
One thing is certain: this would prove an effective opportunity to garner some free international film promotion, courtesy of the current US President’s Twitter account.
