A scene from an Azerbaijani TV series showing an elderly man dancing in front of a group of mourners has been shared on social media with a false claim that it shows a father expressing grief at his daughter's funeral, who was killed by the Iranian regime during anti-hijab protest.
BOOM found that the video is from an Azerbaijani TV series Ata Ocağı featuring actor Qurban Ismailov.
The video is viral in the backdrop of recent protests that have erupted in Iran after the the death in custody of a 22-year-old woman who was arrested by the morality police for not wearing the hijab appropriately. The death of Mahsa Amini who was reportedly beaten after being arrested for wearing her hijab "improperly" sparked street protests. The Iran police has cracked down heavily on the protesters, with at least 83 people killed during the repression, reported Reuters.
The video has been overlaid with an audio of a crowd singing Tom Odell's 'Another Love' song.
The caption with the video reads, "Heartbreaking Iranian father who promised to live long enough to dance at his daughter's wedding ends up dancing at her funeral after she was killed by the Iranian morality police for not covering her hair". (#IranRevolution #Iran #IranianLivesMatter #MashaAmini #مهسا_امینی_ Heartbreaking Iranian father who promised to live long enough to dance at his daughter's wedding ends up dancing at her funeral after she was killed by the Iranian morality police for not covering her hair)
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Fact Check
BOOM found a tweet by journalist Cavid Ağa while looking for details about the video. Cavid Ağa in his tweet stated that the elderly man is an actor and the clip is taken from a TV series named Ata Ocağı (Hearth of Father).
Cavid Ağa's tweet reads, "This man is an actor I personally know. His name is Qurban Ismayilov and this scene is from a famous TV drama Ata Ocağı (Hearth of Father) aired 4 years ago."
Click here to view the tweet.
Taking a cue, we found a longer version of the same video mentioned by Cavid Ağa. The longer video of Ata Ocağı was uploaded on an Azerbaijani YouTube channel named Xəzər Film on January 9, 2018.
The comparison between the viral clip and the video uploaded on the official YouTube channel of Xəzər Film can be seen below.
The description with the video in Azerbaijani roughly translates to, "The new series will talk about a family conflict. The problems of children who do not agree with the social status of their family are a topical issue today. Therefore, we will try so that the audience can see themselves and their problems in this series. These words were said by Rufat Shahbazov, the director of the TV series "Ata ocagi" in his statement to Telegraf.com. According to the director, the drama of several families will be depicted in the series: "The series is in the genre of psychological drama. We are planning to go on air from September. People's artist Hamida Omarova, artists Qurban İsmayılov, Rasim Jafar, young actress Asya Atakishiyeva will be featured in the series. The "Father's Hearth" series will be broadcast 5 times a week on Khazar TV."
We also found Azerbaijani news reports mentioning the elderly man as an artist, theatre, and cinema actor Qurban Ismailov.