TEHRAN -- The theatrical version of Abu al-Abd, a documentary examining the political life of former Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, has premiered in Mashhad, with a special screening at the Mehr Koohsangi Cinema Complex.
Organized by the Art Bureau of Razavi Khorasan, the screening was followed by a question-and-answer session with director Ali Soleimani, who discussed the project’s development, research process and challenges of production.
Rather than presenting a conventional tribute to Haniyeh, Soleimani said he intended the documentary to serve as a historical account of the Palestinian political movement Hamas, using Haniyeh’s life and political activities as its central narrative thread.
The theatrical cut is drawn from a three-part documentary series, with each episode running approximately 50 minutes. Commissioned by Rah Cinema Office for Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting’s (IRIB) Channel One, the original series was produced for television.
Production began in November 2024 and concluded in June 2026, according to the director.
Soleimani said the project initially emerged from his personal interest in documenting the lives of figures associated with the Palestinian resistance movement. He recalled questioning whether Haniyeh’s story could be adequately represented, given his experience of displacement and the circumstances surrounding his martyrdom. 
The director also described a substantial revision of the project’s original research. After rejecting an initial proposal that focused on only one period of Palestinian history, the production team undertook further research and worked with a specialist on Palestinian affairs who had connections with Hamas to arrange interviews specifically for the documentary.
Security concerns and financial constraints prevented the filmmakers from travelling to Qatar to interview Haniyeh’s family directly. Instead, the interviews were conducted remotely with assistance from Lebanon-based broadcaster Al Mayadeen.
The production subsequently relied heavily on archival material, an approach Soleimani said was particularly important given concerns about the availability of historical footage relating to Hamas and Haniyeh on online platforms.
The documentary traces political developments between 1988 and 2023, although the director stressed that it was not intended as a comprehensive biographical portrait of Haniyeh. Its broader objective was to preserve a record of political events and developments that might otherwise become increasingly difficult for future researchers to access.
Addressing the challenges of commissioned filmmaking, Soleimani stated that institutional funding does not necessarily compromise creative quality, provided the filmmaker has a genuine commitment to the subject.