Introduction
This film is about the filmmaker’s heart-breaking, emotional and physical journey to Iran from the UK to make peace with his traumatic past, a journey that has seen him establish Iran’s first Duchenne charity.
Growing up in Iran, in a family of modest means, the British-Iranian filmmaker Sohrab Kavir watched helplessly as his three brothers succumbed to Duchenne. 20 years in the making, his film, Duchenne Boys, is the triumphant result of a man who refused to give up and for whom the act of making this film was both a catharsis and a campaign for change. The film has won 10 International Best Feature Documentary Awards and two Best Director Awards. The documentary was edited by world-renowned editor, Hayedeh Safiyari, who has two Oscar-winning films in her portfolio and is an Academy Award Member.
Duchenne is the number one global genetic killer of children. The disease causes gradual muscle deterioration, which eventually affects the lungs and heart and leads to premature death. Alongside the film, Sohrab and his sister launched the first Duchenne charity in Iran, which currently supports over 700 children (out of an estimated 10,000 in the country), and he also runs the biggest online Duchenne community in the world. We need your help to complete this campaign film in order to gather international support to find a cure for this devastating disease and help Duchenne families everywhere.
