The $40m (£25.9m) film – Iran’s most expensive ever – also premiered in its home country at the same time as the Montreal event. “The actor who plays this role may later play a criminal, and viewers may associate these characters with criminality,” he told AFP. It issued a critical statement about Majidi’s plans in 2012, and a spokesman recently questioned the viability of casting Islam’s chief figure. So far, only Egypt’s doctrinaire al-Azhar university – which initially denounced the Akkad project before later granting it approval – has condemned the new film.

The film is based on four years of research drawing on sources from the hadith, writings purporting to quote Muhammad verbatim, and the seerah, contemporary biographical sources. Majidi says that he had support from both Sunni and Shia scholars for his interpretation, which focuses on the prophet’s childhood in the Hejaz region. It’s a natural act of introduction to our culture.” There have been 200 movies about Jesus Christ, 100 featuring Moses directly or indirectly, 42 about Buddha, but only two on Muhammad. “We’ve been guilty of shortcomings in introducing the world to the real and true face of the prophet. The director said he believed a more proactive approach was required from Islamic film-makers in the light of acts of terrorism that were shaping global perceptions of the faith. Photograph: Clement Sabourin/AFP/Getty Images Majid Majidi speaking at a press conference for the film.

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