Iranian filmmaker Reza Surani is making the documentary “Lift-up” about the life story of Pupak Basami, who is the first woman from post-revolution Iran to compete in an international weightlifting tournament.
A chapter of the film is dedicated to showing the practices Basami follows to preserve her physical readiness during the COVID-19 era.
Another chapter of the documentary also depicts the 28-year-old athlete wearing a nurse uniform to help patients with coronavirus in a Tehran clinic. She spends six hours every day helping the patients at the clinic.
Basami wrote her name into the history books as the first Iranian woman who participated in the Asian Weightlifting Championships in April 2019.
She took part in the 55 kilograms weight category but failed to win anything in the tournament.
She also made history by becoming the first Iranian woman to compete in the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) World Championships in September 2019 and finished sixth in the 55 kilograms D session.
“Lift-up” is being produced at the Documentary and Experimental Film Center, which has previously made several documentaries about Iranian sportswomen.
“Zero to Platform” directed by Sahar Mosayyebi is one of the documentaries that chronicles the concerted efforts of the Mansurian sisters, Elaheh, Shahrbanu and Soheila, who chose wushu martial art to achieve success in life despite all the hardship they have faced throughout their lives.
Filmmaker Sam Kalantari’s acclaimed film “No Place for Angels” about the national Iranian women’s hockey team is another documentary produced at the DEFC.
