IRIB & ORF to co-produce Iranian wildlife documentary

Austrian pubcaster ORF has inked a coproduction deal with Iranian state broadcaster IRIB to produce a natural history film about the country’s wildlife.

Realscreen reports Wild Iran: The Desert Phantom will focus on the elusive Persian cheetah, the Persian gazelle, the Persian leopard and Persian wild ass, as well as golden eagles, brown bears and flamingoes.

IRIB’s Changiz Hasani, ORF’s Richard Grasl and Heinrich Mayer-Moroni from Vienna’s Interspot Film signed a memorandum of understanding for the coproduction in Cannes this week.

The project, which has the full support of IRIB and Iranian conservation authorities, will debut in 2017. ORF-Enterprise will handle distribution.