Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar
The first Persian film maker was Mirza Ebrahim Khan Akkas Bashi, the official photographer of the Shah at that time, Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar. In July 1900, while he visited the Paris Exposition and saw the giant Lumière film exhibit, he recorded in his journal: "They erected a very large screen in the centre of the hall, turned off all electric lights and projected the picture of cinematograph on that large screen. Muzaffar Al-din Shah instructed Akkas Bashi to purchase all kinds of it and to bring it to Tehran so that he can make some there". Court photographer Akkas Bashi duly purchased the necessary equipment for the taking and projecting of film, and just one month later he was taking his first films, of the Festival of Flowers in Belgium, on the Shah's visit there. On the Shah's return to Tehran the films were shown to his inner circle of family, ministers and court servants.