DEFC doc chronicles life of Iran Kaveh founder Asghar Qandchi

TEHRAN –(Iranart)- The Documentary and Experimental Film Center (DEFC) has produced a documentary recounting the life story of Asghar Qandchi, the founder of Iran Kaveh, Iran’s first trailer and truck manufacturing company.

Mostafa Razzaq-Karimi is the director of the documentary named “Unfinished Path”.

“I wanted to portray the industrial history of the country, and the personal life of Qandchi was of high significance,” Razzaq-Karimi said in a press release published on Saturday.

“Qandchi was a blacksmith working in his garage downtown. He had an interesting life, he could not go to school to study but he was a successful entrepreneur. He worked very hard and had many problems in his life, however, we decided not only to portray his dramatic life but also to review Iran’s contemporary history through the industry,” he said. 

The DEFC produced the documentary in collaboration with Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture.

He added that the DEFC has turned into a good venue for young filmmakers to make documentaries about industry and entrepreneurship.

“Industry can be a good topic for a documentary and can attract larger audiences,” he said.

Qandchi was able to establish ties with Mack Trucks of the United States and started manufacturing trucks officially under their license. 

His company soon grew to 1200 workers and reached a capacity of roughly 2000 trucks per year. 

The company was renamed Saipa Diesel Company years after the victory of the Islamic Revolution.

After the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war, although he had lost his authority in his own company, he tried to establish another company called Kaveh Car in order to provide after-sales service and maintenance to existing Mack trucks in Iran.

source: Tehran Times