In a desert, on a hill, men and women in chadors and children wander through a vast open air «museum» dedicated to the memory of the martyrs of the Iran-Iraq war. It is Iranian New Year and we are close to the Iraqi border. I’m following my guide. He’s tall and charismatic. His name is Nader Malek-Kandi. For almost three years, I’ve decided to immerse myself among the most extremist supporters of the Islamic republic of Iran (the Bassidjis), to get a better understanding of their way of thinking.
We come from the same country yet there’s an enormous gulf between us. Being an Iranian man living in France, an atheist, and son of Communists activists under the Shah’s rule should put me on a collision course with the convictions of those who follow the current regime’s dogmas. And yet a dialogue opens up. However,
beneath the charm offensive and the rhetoric, the moments of frankness and the reality of the political and religious system they support, to what extent are our respective beliefs likely to accommodate a real understanding of ‘the other’?

Nader Malek-kandi, 46 years old

He was seventeen at the time of the Revolution and was part of the movement that followed Khomeini. At the beginning of the war, Nader left for the battlefront, followed shortly thereafter by his brother. He once told me: " In eight years, I never feared death. But God did not choose me.  I remain and my brother is gone. God has only rewarded me with a few wounds”.

Even though he is not an official member of the Bassidj, he considers himself as such. The official rhetoric says that anyone who is devoted to the cause of God and the Islamic republic is a Bassidji. To be a Bassidji is therefore more a question of a particular mentality, a state of mind of one who is devoted to a cause and who is not afraid to die.

Today, Nader Malek-Kandi manages a publishing house for religious propaganda books. He publishes the speeches of Khamenei, historical propaganda texts, manuals of religious practice etc.

I met him in Tehran during the traditional mourning ceremony. He appreciated my approach and agreed to participate in the film.